Mat Jackson explains “last minute” call-up for Motorbase

Mat Jackson added some drama to the BTCC’s media day launch yesterday at Donington Park, only getting the call to race this season for Motorbase Performance in-between the entry list announcement at 9am and the test session at 1pm.

The final seat outstanding was the second of the Airwaves-backed Motorbase Performance Ford Focuses, which was listed as TBA when the entry list was announced at the start of the day.

Speculation over who would drive the team’s second car alongside Fabrizio Giovanardi had been rife for weeks, with both Tom Onslow-Cole and Mat Jackson the favourites to land a return to the team, but Onslow-Cole ruled himself out of the drive just two weeks ago.

With Jackson however absent from the test at Brands Hatch last week, it began to appear less likely that he was going to be at the team, especially when his name was absent from the entry list at the Championship’s launch event yesterday.

The team’s newly-built car (as one of their three cars from last season has been sold to AmD Tuning) was due to have a shakedown run in the afternoon, with Motorbase’s GT driver Michael Caine on hand to do the test, until Jackson got an eleventh hour call to get to the circuit.

“It was extremely last minute,” said Jackson to TouringCarTimes. “I was sat at work going through some emails and Dave (Bartrum, team principal) phoned up and said to be here in the next 50 minutes as the session starts…but it’s great to be back on the grid with Airwaves Racing. The team’s moved forward, and to have Fabrizio in the car is fantastic, hopefully we can hit the ground running at Brands.”

Jackson hasn’t driven the car since the season finale at Brands Hatch in October 2013, where he took two podium finishes at the conclusion of a tough season with the car.

“It’s a completely new car compared to when I last drove it last year, we need to find out where they’ve got to with the car, but I’m sure it’s gone in the right direction with Fabrizio’s input.”

With Jackson now confirmed at Giovanardi’s team-mate, the two drivers that fought for the 2008 drivers’ title will now be working together at Motorbase Performance, while the independent team fights for what could be its best ever shot at an outright title.

“(Giovanardi’s) calibre speaks for itself,” said Jackson. “He’s got that many championships to his name, so it’s going to be a challenge, and for me that’s brilliant, the ultimate aim is to get Airwaves to the front, but you know as a driver you also always want to be top dog, so we can certainly push each other and hopefully push the car in the right direction.”