Henley-in-Arden's Mat Jackson says the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at Brands Hatch on Sunday - in which he regained the lead of the Independents drivers championship - turned into the "most dramatic" of his career so far.
Mat finished race two in fourth and race three in third but instead of celebrating on the podium was on his way to hospital after struggling to carry on in a car that was filling up with exhaust fumes. But the result was enough to move him back to the top of the independents standings. It was a bizarre ending to a day which started badly when Mat was caught up in an 11-car pile-up in race one which left the Jacksons MSport team in a race against time to repair their damaged BMW 320si to make race two's grid.
The accident, on a wet track, happened after Mat had spun at the first bend and officials later fined him £1000 and put three points on his competition licence. He was also given a six-place grid penalty for the start of race three.
"First of all, I want to send my best wishes to Matt Neal and Dave Pinkney who came off worst in the accident in race one. All I know is I didn't take anyone off. It's just very unfortunate that the spin then caused the concertina problems behind, but it's the sort of thing that can and does happen in motorsport. On another day, everyone would have missed each other. I really do feel for the guys with damaged cars, I know how hard it is to get out racing and would not wish any damage on anyone.
"Secondly, my car was among those badly damaged and my team would not have managed to repair it in the 90 minutes or so in time for us to start race two if it was not for the help of Team Air Cool, Motorbase, A-Tech and others. The support was fantastic and it was nothing short of a miracle to get the car running again. It was a patch-up job, the car wasn't perfect by any means, but it was good enough to get us up from the back of the grid to fourth. Again, I can't thank everyone enough." It was in race three that Mat's true grit came through. That accident in race one had caused substantial damage to the rear of Mat's #48 BMW and this would have a knock-on effect as fumes began seeping from the exhaust system into the cockpit from the start of the 27 lap race.
"I'd noticed it in race two, but we thought we'd got it fixed for race three. Obviously not as it started again pretty much from the word go. I felt reasonably OK, but then with about 5 laps to go really started to feel it. It was a shame as I'd been in second and pushing Colin Turkington for the win in a car that was still less than perfect but suddenly I started to feel quite drowsy and ran wide at one of the corners and lost the place to Gordon Shedden. I just hung on to the end. When I got out of the car I saw my brother Dan (team manager) only there were two of him!
"The TOCA medical team were brilliant and I'd like to thank them and the staff at the nearby hospital for looking after me so well. Besides, it meant my father Tony (team principal) was able to take my place on the podium which I don't think he minded too much! I'd also like to thank everyone for the many messages of support we've had after what were the most dramatic races I've known. Now it's back into the workshop - we've realistically only got about a week to straighten out the car before it goes back in the transporter for the next meeting."
In spite of his race one retirement, Mat's results in races two and three have moved him back to the top of the independent standings and have also helped him consolidate his strong sixth place overall in the BTCC. In the overall championship Jacksons MSport is the highest-placed single-car team in fifth. Mat and the team are next in BTCC action at the Knockhill circuit in Fife, Scotland on Sunday September 2nd.
Points after Brands Hatch BTCC Drivers: 1st Jason Plato 239; 2nd Fabrizio Giovanardi 235; 3rd Gordon Shedden 161; 4th Matt Neal 154; 5th Colin Turkington 141; 6th Mat Jackson 129 etc. Independent Drivers: 1st Mat Jackson 217; 2nd Mike Jordan 215; 3rd Colin Turkington 205 etc. BTCC Teams: 1st SEAT Sport UK 342; 2nd VX Racing 335; 3rd Team Halfords 300; 4th Team RAC 230; 5th Jacksons MSport 127 etc. Independents Teams: 1st Team RAC 293; 2nd Team Eurotech 222; 3rd Jacksons MSport 221 etc.
