03/07/2005 - Mat Jackson "fastest" In Seat European Masters
Mat Jackson was the fastest man on the track in yesterday's (Sunday) international SEAT European Masters Race inSpain, but the Henley-in-Arden racer was cruelly denied victory by a punctured tyre. From fifth place on the starting grid against the top drivers from SEAT's high-profile Cupra championships from across Europe, Mat was the quickest to master the tricky damp conditions around the Barcelona circuit and rapidly moved up to second position to close in on runaway leader, Germany's Florian Gruber, who had started the race from pole position. With four laps to go, it was evident that victory - and the big winner-takes-all prize of a race with SEAT's World Touring Car Championship team - was only going to go either Britain (Mat) or Germany (Gruber). "I easily had the measure of Gruber," said 24-year-old Mat. "I'd caught him in no time and could see the places where he was weak. I was just pressuring him into making a mistake before lining him up to make my move.
I was quite happy to leave it late into the race before passing him as it would have given him no time left to retaliate and, also with his team mates behind me, they wouldn't have had a chance to take advantage of us battling." But on the 13th and penultimate lap around the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix venue, Mat's car became uncontrollable as a rear tyre deflated and he was forced to limp back to the pit lane and retire from the race. Mat commented: "Unlucky 13! That's all I can say. At least I've had a chance to show my speed in equal machinery against the rest of best from Europe. It's just a shame the result doesn't reflect that." By setting the race's fastest lap, Mat underlined the speed he had demonstrated in the UK SEAT Cupra Championship in 2005 when he won more races and set more fastest race laps and pole positions than any other driver.
Had it not been for a pair of mechanical failures, he may well have won the title. Furthermore, Mat's performance yesterday came just days after impressing in a test with SEAT UK's race-winning British Touring Car Championship team. Mat added: "It's a great event that SEAT SA has put on for its young drivers in Barcelona, the hospitality we all enjoyed was fantastic and I'm really pleased I was able to take part in it. SEAT Turkey prepared the 16 identical cars and they all ran faultlessly. Winning was always going to be hard fought with such a big prize up for grabs - the SEAT championships always draw top quality drivers, so to come away as the fastest in the race and having shown I was good enough to win it,are really good result in the circumstances."
