BMW Dealer Team UK driver Mat Jackson made his visit to Scotland well worth his while today as he scored an Independent victory, along with a fourth and sixth place finish in the eighth meeting of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship. As a result of his strong results the Accident Exchange-backed driver moved up in overall standings to fourth.

 

The majority of the race action was confined to the last fixture. Henley-in-Arden-based Jackson started from fifth on the grid but after being passed by Matt Neal on lap three and then pushed wide at CarLubes three laps later he found himself in a frustrating eight place behind defending Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi. The safety car was deployed on lap nine for two laps. Once the race restarted the frenetic action increased with Jackson out pacing Giovanardi on the start finished straight as he claimed seventh place. Meanwhile Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were locked in battle for fourth. Ultimately the pair left the track and Jackson inherited fifth place behind Colin Turkington. As the pairing battled Turkington went wide and Jackson went ahead in fourth, a well-earned position he took to the chequered flag.

 

In the second race of the day Jackson scored an Independent victory as he brought his BMW 320si home in fifth place. He started the 24-lap race from sixth on the grid and had a blistering start that took him to fourth despite nearly being squeeze out of contention at he headed into the SEAT curves. Jackson held his place and set about defending his position ahead of resident Knockhill driver Gordon Shedden, however the Scot had the home advantage and passed the BMW driver on the inside at the hairpin.  Jackson fought back while defending his position from BMW driver Colin Turkington and despite a strong attack from the Independent title rival he held him at bay and retained his fifth place.

 

Earlier in the day Jackson started from seventh on the grid in race one and moved up to fifth on the opening lap, however it wasn’t until lap 13, after two deployments of the safety car, that the action started in earnest. Once underway, Jackson lost a place to Shedden but by lap 16 the battle was on for fifth place as the 27-year-old fought with fellow BMW driver Colin Turkington. Despite reeling off a succession of solid laps Jackson was unable to pass and ultimately finished in sixth place scoring five points.

 

Jackson commented: “It’s always tough racing here, there is very little room to make a move. We had an excellent start in the second race which served us well but I was behind Gordon, who knows this place like the back of his hand, he was backing me up and I was also really conscious of the guys behind me and I didn’t want to get in any trouble with another race to go. The final race saw most of the action and I just made sure I had a clean race and not get too mixed up in it all which at the end of the day paid off. We are in a strong position ahead of Silverstone and the team are already looking forward to racing there.”

Team Principal Tony Jackson commented, “Mat did a good job today and kept himself out of trouble and as a team we achieved all our objectives and it was also good to send out a clear message with our Independents’ that we are still very much in the running.”

 

Race One Result
1. J Plato              (SEAT)
2. F Giovanardi (Vauxhall)
3. T Onslow Cole        (Vauxhall)
4. G Shedden    (Honda)
5. C Turkington (BMW)
6. M Jackson    (BMW)
7. R Collard            (BMW)
8. A Jones              (SEAT)
9. A Jordan             (Honda)
10. T Chilton           (Honda)

 

Race Two Result
1. J Plato              (SEAT)
2. F Giovanardi (Vauxhall)
3. T Onslow Cole        (Vauxhall)
4. G Shedden            (Honda)
5. M Jackson    (BMW)
6. R Collard            (BMW)
7. C Turkington (BMW)
8. D Turner             (SEAT)
9. A Jordan             (Honda)
10. M Neal              (Vauxhall)

 

Race Three Result
1. D Turner             (SEAT)
2. R Collard            (BMW)
3. A Jordan             (Honda)
4. M Jackson    (BMW)
5. F Giovanardi (Vauxhall)
6. T Chilton            (Honda)
7. M Neal               (Vauxhall)
8. G Shedden            (Honda)
9. S Kane               (BMW)
10. A Jones             (SEAT)

 

Championship Standings – Top Ten
F Giovanardi    228
J Plato         187
C Turkington    160
M Jackson               155
M Neal          152
T Onslow Cole   144
G Shedden               137
D Turner                119
A Jones         94
T Chilton               81