Mat Jackson takes two wins

Sun 30th August 2009 Warwickshire’s Mat Jackson was the star of the British Touring Car Championship round at Silverstone today, taking two wins and a podium at the famous Northamptonshire circuit.

“What a day!” said Mat, 28 years-old. “To get a win and a podium in the first two races was fantastic, but the final victory from seventh on the grid was awesome. That’s two meetings in a row that I’ve finished on the podium in every race.... not something that many drivers can boast.”

The Racing Silverline driver claimed pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session – setting a new lap record along the way – and drove to a fantastic victory in race one. Despite succumbing to the faster-starting rear-wheel drive BMW at the start, Mat got his RML-run Chevrolet Lacetti past with a spectacular manoeuvre on his way to a second consecutive win.

“We had the pace to control the race, but it was a challenge,” said Mat. “The move on Rob Collard’s BMW was one of those, ‘I’m coming through and there’s nothing you can do about it’ moves. After my win last time out at Knockhill it was great to maintain that performance. The Lacetti has not let us down; it hasn’t missed a beat today.”

Mat, who is based in Henley-In-Arden, started the second race from the front row of the grid, but with the heaviest car thanks to maximum success ballast, he was passed by team-mate Jason Plato. As rain started to fall during the second half of the race, Mat’s Lacetti was usurped by title protagonist Fabrizio Giovanardi, and he crossed the line in third place for his second podium finish of the day.

“Obviously the weight made things a bit more difficult,” said Mat, “and the long wheelbase of Giovanardi’s Vauxhall really came into its own in those conditions so it wasn’t possible to hold him off.”

Starting race three from seventh on the grid, Mat was targeting a podium a finish – but he went even better and took a thrilling win, setting fastest lap along the way. A superb start saw him in fourth by the end of the first lap – having passed Formula 1 star Johnny Herbert at the first corner - and he soon picked off the competition to put himself in second by lap four. Once again behind race one rival Collard, Mat got past with another brilliant move at Brooklands, and withstood the pressure of the BMW to take the flag.

Added to his 1-2-3 haul from Knockhill, today's results mean that Mat has moved himself into fifth overall in the points standings with a tally of 137 – just 16 points away from early title contender Matt Neal, of Vauxhall.

“Two races ago I was eleventh in the standings, now I’m fifth and hunting Matt Neal,” said Mat. “It’s fantastic given the fact that I missed the first round and have had some awful bad luck and mechanical dramas this year. And there are still six races to go!”