Two race wins for Mat Jackson
Jackson’s sensational performance ins his Ford Focus ST gave him the incredible accolade of achieving the highest number of points scored during a race weekend of the entire 2015 BTCC season.
In a repeat of his Silverstone performance just two weeks ago, Jackson was once again on top form during Sunday’s opening race. Starting ballast-free from pole, the 34-year-old controlled the safety-car beset race from lights to flag, piloting the #4 mountune-powered Ford Focus ST to its third victory of the season in front of an elated home crowd.
Race 2 proved a tougher challenge for the Motorbase-man. With maximum ballast on-board the #4 Focus and running the soft tyre, Jackson expertly held off charges from the lighter Mercedes and Toyota of Adam Morgan and Tom Ingram, narrowly holding on the race lead to claim his fourth outright and seventh independent race win of the season.
With the overall championship title battle coming down to the final race of the season the #4 Focus was slotted into seventh place on the grid. Another trademark super-fast start from Jackson saw him charge into fourth place before an early safety car appearance on the opening lap.
Moving past Jack Goff and up into third following the brief restart, before yet another period under the safety car, Jackson wowed the crowds as he battled with Matt Neal and Goff for second place.
After trading places with the duo as they jostled for position, Jackson executed a sensational move around the outside of both the Honda and MG heading into clearways to claim runners-up honours, with the Ford crossing line in P2, marking the Motorbase Performance team’s best-ever weekend of results since its BTCC debut in 2006.
The season finale brought a mixed bag of results for team-mate, Drivecool ambassador James Cole.
Two strong performances in races one and two delivered a pair of twelfth place finishes for the #44 Focus. Unfortunately steering damage sustained during contact on the opening lap of the final race hindered Cole’s pace, and the 27-year-old dropped down the order to end the race in P18.
