Henley-in-Arden's Mat Jackson was last night celebrating winning £100,000 after being provisionally crowned the 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Champion at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent. In front of a massive British Touring Car race day crowd and a live pan-European television audience on the Motors TV channel, Whale Tankers-sponsored Mat finished his latest two races in fourth and third positions to score the points required to win the biggest cash prize in British motor sport. Mat will be handed his cheque and Champion's trophy by SEAT UK on Finals Day at Silverstone on 15 October when he will go all out to end the season in victorious style.
His achievement is a remarkable triumph for his small, family-run Jacksons Motorsport team considering it has been up against bigger squads with more experience. But there was no time to hang around at Brands Hatch and celebrate his title success with his team - Mat drove the 150 miles back home to Henley to attend a pal's wedding bash in the town. Mat, aged 25, says: "It was a case of getting out of my race suit, jumping into jeans and a T-shirt and when I got home getting changed again into a suit and tie. I guess you could call it a double celebration with lots of champagne. "Yesterday was the greatest day in my racing career. I've loved every second of racing in SEAT's championship and it is an honour to be its Champion. The fact that the championship is run by such professional people and the level of competition is the highest anywhere outside of British Touring Cars makes winning the title extremely satisfying.
There are so many people I must thank, especially Whale Tankers and the crew who've worked on my car." Mat's weekend got off to a tricky start when he made a rare mistake and spun his SEAT into the gravel trap during Saturday's first qualifying session. He eventually took fifth and fourth positions for the two starting grids. In each race he made a position at the start to finish fourth and third. That meant for the first time this season he went a weekend without winning a race, but his mission of putting the title beyond was accomplished. He adds: "I felt more relaxed all weekend than at any other race meeting all year. I'd built up such a good points lead that I could be in cruise mode if I wanted.
But to be fair, I was trying as hard as ever to win. My car just didn't seem to have the bite of some of the others so it was a case of wringing as much as I could from it and that was enough to complete the job. "The spin in qualifying ruined two tyres, so we only had four of our allocation of six to complete both races. But then we also suffered two punctures and the rules only permit you to use old tyres that have completed a race distance as substitutes. By the end of race two, some of the tyres on my car had completed four races distances! "Now I'm looking forward to going to Silverstone in three weeks' time and standing on the top step of the podium as the new champion. Any pressure will be off and I'd like to end the season with two more wins. I've got ten from 16 so far - it would be great to make it 12 from 18."
