BMW Dealer Team UK rose to the challenge of the demanding Knockhill circuit today when driver Mat Jackson set the eighth fastest time for tomorrow's first race of HIQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.
Jackson, who as a result of Tom Chilton being given a six-place grid penalty from the last meeting, will start the first race of the day from seventh. The 26-year-old is confident with tomorrow's race pace after two productive free practice sessions earlier in the day; he completed a total of fifty laps and ran as high as fourth. The 1.2-mile track produced a close qualifying result with only four hundredths of a second separating Jackson from P3 and half a second separating the top ten.
Jackson commented, "There is little room for error our there, the times are really tight as is the track! We have a good set-up on the car and know we have a strong race pace, we just need to find the space as overtaking is generally confined to the hairpin but I'm confident of a good point scoring round."
Team Principal Tony Jackson commented, "Qualifying demonstrated the challenging nature of this circuit and with such a such close times the fans should be in for a treat in the opening race, in which we are looking forward taking the challenge to Turkington for the Independent's title."
Race one for the British Touring Car Championship is at 11.10 with race two and three at 13.50 and 16.30 respectively.
Qualifying Times
1. D Turner (SEAT) 53.163s 2. J Plato (SEAT) +0.013 9. T Chilton (Honda) +0.118 3. T Onslow-Cole (Vaxuhall) 0.278 4. M Neal (Vauxhall) 0.311 5. C Turkington (BMW) 0.312 6. F Giovanardi (Vauxhall) 0.314 7. M Jackson (BMW) 0.318 8.A Jordan (Honda) 0.494 10. G Shedden (Honda) 0.535
