HENLEY racer Mat Jackson knows what he wants for his 35th birthday next week – a big haul of points from this weekend’s round of the British Touring Car Championship.
Jackson has already proved his credentials as one of only two drivers to win more than one race out of the nine so far this season.
The Motorbase Performance driver heads into this meeting at Outon Park sitting on top of the Independents rankings, having won one of the three races last time out at Thruxton.
However, driving the Ford Focus ST, he is determined to close the gap on overall current pace-setters Matt Neal and Rob Collard.
A big points haul at Oulton – one of his favourite circuits – would be the perfect birthday present as he celebrates his 35th birthday next Friday.
“Off the back of our successful weekend at Thruxton I think everybody is rightly filled with confidence at Motorbase,” said the DUO-backed racer.
“It’s great to be leading the Independents’ championship at this point in the season, but our eyes are on the overall title – that’s the one we want – and that’s what we’re aiming for.
“With the results we’ve had so far this season, there’s no reason at all why we can’t achieve it.
“Oulton’s a great place to race at, one of my favourites. It’s a proper circuit which breaks the mould and I’m really looking forward to getting back out there again this weekend and taking the fight to the Hondas and BMWs.”
Honda driver Neal and BMW driver Collard are just 11 points ahead of Jackson, who lies fourth overall.
Motorbase team-mate Andrew Jordan occupies eighth, but is just 21 points behind the joint leaders.
Jackson’s #7 car and Jordan’s #77 will carry 48kg and 21kg of success ballast respectively heading into the weekend following their wins at Thruxton.
“We’ve had a small break since our last race meeting to evaluate our performances so far and the guys have been busy back at base as usual,” said Kent-based Motorbase team manager Oly Collins.
“We haven’t been sitting still which will no doubt be the case for all of our competitors, but hopefully we’ll be able to carry the momentum from our double-winning race weekend at Thruxton to Oulton Park.
“Both Mat and Andrew are carrying weight into the weekend so we’ll have to see what effect that has for qualifying and race one.”
