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Henley-in-Arden's Mat Jackson is confident of more podium results when the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship visits the swooping Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire on June 24th. The circuit is one of the most challenging on the calendar and amongst Mat's favourites. He won there in 2005 and again last year on his way to the SEAT Cupra title.
Mat is full of confidence after returning to form in the BTCC at Croft two weeks ago. He achieved a third place outright (his third outright podium finish in four BTCC appearances) and a fourth to gain a place in the championship order and get his bid for Independents drivers' honours back on track.
His season has also just received a timely boost with the addition of a new
sponsor Butlers Vehicle Solutions Ltd on his #48 BMW 320si E90 alongside
Whale Tankers, Maxim magazine and Nick Whale BMW. Last week Mat ran a useful
test day at Silverstone which enabled his brother Dan to take up his new
position of Team Manager within the Jacksons MSport team alongside their
father Tony, the Team Principal.
Mat, who recently celebrated his 26th birthday, says: "I'm sure that Oulton
will be one of the BMW's stronger circuits. It's got a lot of gradients and
the rear-wheel-drive should give us a traction advantage out of the Island
hairpin and up the hill off the Knickerbrook chicane, probably exiting the
final corner at Lodge as well. Oulton is also something of a local circuit
for us after Donington Park. It's only an hour or so up the M6 and I'm
looking forward to a bit of extra support."
Mat lies a strong seventh in the BTCC and knows that another strong three
races at Oulton could move him into contention for third overall. He adds:
"It would be easy to get over-excited with three podium finishes from our
first four meetings in the BTCC. It is exciting of course and we've
definitely made people sit up and take notice.
"What we've achieved on what we've got compared to the bigger teams is
brilliant and a lot of that is down to the people who support us, both the
sponsors and the fans. I'm really pleased with the way we've played it. We
came in without any big fanfare and have just delivered a good set of
results.
"I'm also really chuffed that my brother Dan is the new Team Manager. He's
worked with me since I started karting as a kid and he's got degrees and a
lot of experience with some of the best automotive manufacturers in the
business. We really are proper family team now." |