Jackson: Motorbase “family” has goal of championship glory

The cold conditions of media day did Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson no favours, but they didn’t distract him from the team’s “common goal” of a first piece of championship silverware.

The experienced 31-year-old is entering his eighth season in the BTCC, and said the “big family” at Motorbase would be pushing for a first title in 2013.

It will be the team’s first full season as a constructor, with three Ford Focus STs built to the NGTC regulations, with Jackson and Aron Smith starting the season, with a third car to join later in the year. Though Michael Caine’s name was listed on the entry list as the driver, it’s understood this is not final yet.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Jackson said: “The conditions are not ideal – it is a very cold track temperature.

“It makes it difficult, but everyone’s in the same boat. But we could go to Brands Hatch in a week’s time and have exactly the same conditions.

“We need to go testing when we can actually generate some temperature in the tyres. At the moment it’s just too cold.”

On the season ahead, Jackson was optimistic about the team’s chances for success.

He said: “I think we have made a lot of progress, but we need to see how much progress everyone else has made. The BTCC never stands still, and hopefully we haven’t.

“The common goal here is we want a championship. It is like a big family. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge before we can achieve it, and it’s not going to be easy.”

Jackson said the big grids would make it “paramount” to finish race one of the weekend to ensure success. “It’s great to see so many people on the grid,” he added.

Jackson finished 14th in the standings at media day, but managed to rack up 50 laps.