Henley-in-Arden's Mat Jackson is one of the stars of hit BBC TV motoring show Top Gear in the coming weeks.
The programme needed a handful of top-line racing drivers for a whacky race in motorhomes against presenters James May and Richard Hammond.
So who better to call on than Mat and several fellow drivers from Britain's top motor racing series the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship! After filming the race in the summer the final edited piece is soon to be shown during the show's regular slot from 8pm-9pm on either Sunday November 11th or 18th.
"What an opportunity and what an experience," says Mat. "I've been told not to give too much away but I can say that the viewers are in for a lot of laughs. The whole Top Gear crew were great to work with. I hope I can do more with them in the future."
On top of his Top Gear appearance, Mat is also just two weeks away from attending the BTCC's prestigious annual awards ceremony, this year being held on London's Park Lane. There he will receive his trophy for finishing a close second in the BTCC's Independent Drivers' Championship.
Mat was new in the BTCC in 2007 but during the season has earned thousands of new fans. The highlights were a breakthrough race win at Oulton Park in June and then a second victory in the championship's very last round at Thruxton which was watched by more than 1.5 million people on ITV1.
His results are all the more remarkable considering his BMW is run by his family's Jacksons MSport team who are new to the BTCC and who operate on only a fraction of the budget of factory teams such as Vauxhall and SEAT.
In recent days Mat has received glowing reports in specialist magazine titles Autosport and Motorsport News who ranked him fourth and sixth overall in their end of season reviews.
"I was pretty happy with those rankings. Let's just hope I move up the charts in 2008!" adds Mat. "We are already receiving loads of messages of support for 2008's BTCC even though it doesn't start for another five months (Brands Hatch March 29th-30th)! We were learning all the time in 2007 so will be in much better shape heading into the news season."
