A win in the first race for Mat Jackson was the best start for the Motorbase team, but the weekend gradually got more and more disappointing race after race.
Race One
Mat Jackson qualified third for the first race of the weekend, with team mate Andrew Jordan facing a tough race from twenty fifth on the grid.
The Warwickshire based driver stormed into the lead of the pack at the beginning of the race, ahead of Ash Sutton and Josh Cook. Jackson kept the lead for the rest of the race, defending hard against Cook towards the end of the race, taking his first win of the championship.
First @DunlopBTCC race win of the season goes to @mat_jackson with a faultless drive in race 1! #btcc #actionjackson pic.twitter.com/db0NXVxJjM
— Motorbase(@Motorbase) April 17, 2016
Andrew Jordan was making the most out of the tough position he’d put himself in, moving up through the field throughout the race. He’d managed to move up more than ten places to fourteenth when the race was red flagged after a crash and a fire stopped the field in their tracks.
Fantastic charge through the pack from P25 in race 1 @AndrewJordan77 more to come before red flag but P14 = points pic.twitter.com/IveNd3KbC0
— Motorbase(@Motorbase) April 17, 2016
Race Two
Jackson started the second race of the weekend on pole, but he couldn’t repeat his race one success. A fast moving Rob Collard passed the ballast heavy car in the closing stages of the race. He finished second, taking his second podium of the weekend.
Fantastic racecraftfrom @mat_jackson with full ballast & another podium! Reversed grid sees him start race 3 in P7 pic.twitter.com/KeLEkGHf8S
— Motorbase(@Motorbase) April 17, 2016
“The weekend started really well for us,” said Jackson. “The car felt really strong in free practice and then we carried that through into qualifying where, despite our little mishap, we still managed to grab P3 which was a great result. We got a great jump on the MG’s in race 1 and managed to control the race all the way through. It’s always a good feeling to get that first win of the season under your belt and it’s encouraging that the car performed really well in race 2 again even with full ballast on-board.”
Jordan had another difficult race with his P14 start and contact at the beginning of the race. Damage from the bump troubled him throughout the race but he managed to fight back up into twelfth.
Tough race for @AndrewJordan77 opening lap contact hampered his progress but great fight back to P12. Race 3 30 minspic.twitter.com/9awFr8MXvk
— Motorbase(@Motorbase) April 17, 2016
Race 3
Both Motorbase drivers were on the softer tyres for the third race of the weekend and Jordan was trialling a new set up. Tyre degradation hampered both drivers’ efforts to move up from their reverse grid positions, but Jackson and Jordan crossed the line inside the points in 10th and 14th.
Interesting race 3 with both cars struggling on the soft tyres but win, podium & 100% points finishes = happy team! pic.twitter.com/nlE6WfvFkw
— Motorbase(@Motorbase) April 17, 2016
“Race 3 was tough,” Jackson said. “It started well but the combination of the ballast and soft tyre wasn’t ideal so it was a bit of a frustrating end to a great weekend, but the car has been on the pace all weekend and we’ve managed to challenge for wins. The Motorbase have done a fantastic job once again and we feel upbeat heading to Thruxton.”
“Qualifying really put us on the back foot heading into today, but we also haven’t been able to attack as much in the races as I would have thought we would, but in a funny way I’m going away happy from today knowing that the changes we made for race 3 have seen a massive leap forward in how the car feels,” Jordan said. “The soft tyre really dropped off fast in the last race which we expected but for the first 8 laps or so we made great progress.
“I’m obviously very disappointed with the results but I think we’re moving in the right direction and I’m really looking forward to going to Thruxton. We absolutely need to get three strong finishes there to make up the lost ground from this weekend.”
Motorbase are now top of the Independents championship after the second round, and third overall.
Feature Image Credit: Caroline Rhea
