Mat Jackson puts in strong qualifying on Chevrolet debut

Sat 25th April 2009 Warwickshire racer Mat Jackson will start the first of tomorrow’s three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Thruxton from tenth position after a strong debut qualifying session in his new Chevrolet Lacetti.

Mat, 27-years-old, set a time just one second behind the pole sitter in Saturday’s qualifying session with the top RML team. It marks a solid start to his return to Britain’s biggest motor racing series, in which the Henley-in-Arden driver finished second overall last season in a family-run BMW.

“Today has been about getting back into the groove and adapting to the new car,” said Mat, who is backed by Oxfordshire-based traffic information consultancy PCC UK Ltd. “I’d only taken part in a shakedown prior to today’s practice and qualifying sessions, so to be lining up on the fifth row of the grid is a great start for our first race in the Lacetti. It’s all about gelling with the car.”

The Chevrolet is well-suited to the high-speed straights of the Hampshire circuit and Jackson hopes to score well in the three races. “I’ve won at Thruxton in the BTCC before, so I know how to master the circuit – and the Lacetti’s engine is fantastic,” he said. “The car is 100 per cent there so the rest is down to me.

“I’m hoping to pick up some good points. It’s the last five laps that are most important, not the first five, so I’ll be staying out of trouble!”