07/08/2006 - Mat Hopes To Avenge Win That Got Away
Henley-in-Arden's Mat Jackson might hold a 37-point lead in the Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship, but he still will go to the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk this coming weekend (12-13 August) hoping to avenge the victory he was denied there 12 months ago. Last year at Snetterton, Mat was leading the first of two races by four seconds when his car's engine lost power - cruelly denying him an almost certain win. Later, with repairs to the engine, he then underlined his superiority around one of the UK's fastest tracks by shattering the lap record en route to a dominant victory in race two. Mat's winning ways in his Jacksons Motorsport-run SEAT have continued into 2006 and this season he has become the driver they all want to beat - in front of watching British Touring Car team bosses and the UK's biggest motor sport crowds, he has won seven of the ten races held so far and is undoubtedly one of the sport's future hot properties. In the most recent two rounds at Donington Park, he won twice and set a new lap record. But says Whale Tankers-sponsored Mat: "The last thing I'm going to do is become complacent - we've had a fantastic first half to the season, but this sport can deal some cruel blows.
Just look at what happened at Snetterton last year. We were walking away with race one, but the end result never showed that and the lost points from that race cost me the 2005 title. "It would be nice to put what happened right this weekend, but most important of all is consolidating the lead I've built for myself. Of course I want to win both races and with eight rounds to go it's far too early to start thinking of cruising around and collecting points. That kind of tactic can easily backfire on you. We're all racers in this team and always want to put on a show for the crowds and our sponsors. "Snetterton might only look like two long straights joined together by four corners, but it's a much bigger challenge than that. Because there are fewer corners than at most circuits it's even more important to get all of them right and for that you need a very good car set-up. "Probably one of my strengths is my speed straight off the start during the opening two laps when the tyres are still 'cold' - I hope I can use that to get away and prevent the others using my slipstream.
But if not and I'm in a battle for the lead, then I'd still feel confident that my race craft can bring me through. At Donington and before that at Croft I had to come from behind and overtake people to win. "Whatever, SEAT UK has the toughest single-make saloon championship in the country and I'm sure that, like every race so far, Snetterton's two rounds are going to be very entertaining for the spectators and TV viewers." Mat's Snetterton timetable: Friday 11 August: TESTING, 13.05-13.55 & 17.40-18.30 Saturday 12 August: QUALIFYING, 12.00-12.20 & 16.00-16.20 Sunday 13 August: RACE DAY, 09.30 (Race 1, 16 laps) & 13.55 (Race 2, 16 laps) Mat's two races at Snetterton on Sunday 13 August can be watched live on satellite television channel Motors TV (channel 41 or 173 on NTL3).
