Ollie Jackson rues missed opportunity on best weekend yet

Ollie Jackson enjoyed his best weekend of the season to date at Croft but was left to rue the clash in race three that he felt has cost him a potential maiden BTCC podium finish.

Jackson was on the pace throughout race day at the wheel of his AmDTuning.com Audi S3, battling forwards to an eleventh place finish in the opening race before a penalty would demote him back to 13th afterwards.

He then managed to break into the top ten in race two for his best finish in more than four years, with ninth spot rewarding him with the reverse grid pole for race three.

Although he maintained the lead through the opening lap, contact from the Focus of Mat Jackson on lap three after a brief Safety Car period saw him run off track at Sunny In and drop back to tenth spot, which is where would ultimately finish.

The results from the weekend allowed Jackson to jump up the standings in both the overall and Independents’ championship although he admitted there was frustration at the missed opportunity to bag a breakthrough finish in race three.

“What happened in race three is a shame as I think we could have picked up a fantastic result there,” he said. “On the restart, I thought there was a chance that me and Mat could break away from the cars behind, and even if he was able to get through, we’d be in a position where we could try and follow him and continue fight for the podium places.

“As it panned out with Rob [Austin] backing up the field, I think that the podium was certainly achievable, and we’d definitely have been able to finish well inside the top five or six.

“At the same time though, I don’t want to let that spoil our day as we’d already shown the pace in the car in race two and anything we gained in race three having picked up the reverse grid pole was a bonus. We’d threatened to get these kind of results for a while and just hadn’t had luck on our side, but the car was great all weekend and I’m delighted for the team.

“We’ve been on the pace and have picked up two top ten finishes on merit because we had a quick car, and not just because others have fallen off and given us the places. I’m sure it won’t be the last time we’ll run with the front pack.”