We missed luck and consistency needed to win title, says Mat Jackson

Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson said it was a mixture of missing luck and consistency which eventually thwarted his bid for a maiden BTCC crown, after rounding off a strong year with a win in the final race of the season.

Jackson finished third in the standings, the best performance by a Motorbase driver in the series to date, with his results also helping David Bartrum’s squad to a first independent teams’ crown.

The 35-year-old came into the Brands Hatch meeting in contention for the overall title, and although he came up 16 points short in the end, he dominated the reverse grid encounter from pole position to take his fifth win of the season.

“I think whenever you come close, you always look back on the things that got away. But you’ve got to look forward,” said Jackson to TouringCarTimes.

“We’ve come here, we’ve won the final race and we couldn’t do any more. We pushed for everything we could. The pace is in the car, we just need the luck and the consistency – that is what it comes down to.

“Overall, I’m very happy. I think it’s great for the team to be independents’ champions and to take a win today.”

Asked what the difference between winning the championship and not, Jackson added: “It’s just consistency. We led at Snett and the ECU failed. It’s little things like that – we’ve had two punctures and we put the wrong tyres on at Croft.

“At no point were we not quick enough to do it, it’s what we’ve thrown away. That’s what a championship is – you all start with a full bag of points and it’s about who loses the least.”

Asked whether he would be looking to stay with the team in 2017,  Jackson added: “We’ve got to wait and see what route both the team and myself are going to take.”