Near-perfect weekend ends with DNF for Mat Jackson

A near-perfect weekend for Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson ended in final race disappointment, but not before two strong results put him firmly back in the championship mix.

Jackson steered his Ford Focus ST to a strong third in race one, making up two places from qualifying to bring home a trophy in Motorbase’s 300th race in the BTCC. And he went even better in the second encounter, passing Team Dynamics’ Gordon Shedden off the start and Team BMR’s Colin Turkington further round the lap to establish a lead he’d never lose.

A combative start to the final race saw Jackson advance to second with maximum ballast, but the hat-trick of podiums was not to be as the Ford slowed on the Bentley Straight with a sudden loss of power.

Assessing his weekend, Jackson told TouringCarTimes: “We’ve had a good day. It was unfortunate in race three but we’ve had two podiums and a win, so we can’t complain.

“The car’s there and the chassis feels like it’s hooked up. It would have been nice to round it off with a positive podium in the third one, but it’s not to be.

“Race pace for us is always very strong – the qualifying pace is not necessarily the same. We’ve had a quick car around this circuit and I hope we can take it to Knockhill.”

Jackson now sits sixth in the standings, 35 points behind new series leader Rob Collard. He has also closed to within 35 points of the series lead, down from the 45-point gap after Croft.

“It’s changing around so quickly, isn’t it? It’s all over the place. [The gap] is something like one race win. So I think we’re doing OK,” added Jackson.