Ollie Jackson: Top ten finishes are a sensible goal

Ollie Jackson was yesterday announced as the new driver of the AmD Tuning.com turbo-powered Volkswagen Golf for the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. TouringCarTimes spoke to Jackson about the news.

TcT: How did the deal to drive for AmD Tuning.com come together?
“We were talking about it just before Christmas but it’s only been the last couple of weeks where it’s really progressed. I’ve had some help from the guys that look after me and my drives and things like that. Shaun approached us with a good deal to drive the car and so it all worked out very quickly. It was a very easy deal.”

TcT: What are your feelings on returning to the BTCC grid in 2012?
“I’m really looking forward to it. It was a dream driving the two last race events last year and until a few weeks ago I didn’t know if I was going to be doing any racing this year, so it’s really exciting. I’m ecstatic to be in touring cars, like I said last year it was my dream to be a touring car driver. To be in a car that’s a real top ten contender is really fantastic.”

TcT: What goal are you setting yourself for this year?
“I think top ten finishes is a sensible goal and if I can do better than that then it’s a bonus. I need to work on my driving; I’ve got very little front wheel drive experience. All I have in terms of front wheel drive is the Vectra from the two [BTCC] race weekends and half a test day. I might start off a bit steady in this car but if I can make the most of it towards the end of the year than I’ll be really pleased.”

“We’re looking to kick off with a bang and we’ve got testing planned so I’ll have plenty of time in the car before the start of the season. Hopefully I’ll be able to go into the first round in the full swing of things.”

TcT: Who will you be benchmarking yourself against this season?
“It’s difficult to say really because you don’t know where everyone is going to be at the start of the year with new cars, new engines and people changing cars. I think I’m just going to look at myself against the data we’ve got and judge myself by that. We’ve got Tom Onslow-Cole’s data and it doesn’t get much better than that so if I can get near his performance I’ll be perfectly happy.”

TcT: How involved are you going to be in the development of the car?
“I certainly like to give feedback. My day job is as a ride and handling engineer at Lotus so I like to think that I might be able to make a positive contribution to where the car is and work with Shaun on developing it further. It would be nice to make progress with the car over the year as well and hopefully I can help out with that.”