Mat Jackson produced a memorable defensive drive in the final BTCC encounter at Knockhill, as the Motorbase Performance driver fended off a gaggle of cars to claim his fourth win of the season.
It was status quo in the opening laps as initially Jackson led the squabbling duo of Rob Collard and Colin Turkington. That scrap spilled over on lap eight as Turkington’s Subaru tapped Collard’s BMW into a lurid slide. As the damaged Team JCT600 with GardX car straightened out further contact ensued and both cars were fired onto the grass and out of contention.
This brought Sam Tordoff, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden into play as Ford battled BMW, Subaru and Honda. The quartet remained inseparable throughout the remainder of the race, but all attempts to make a pass were rebuffed by the car ahead.
The quartet were covered by just 1.2 seconds as the chequered flag fell, but it was Jackson punching the air as he roared by his delighted team members on the pit wall. Tordoff and Plato completed the podium, with the Halfords Yuasa Racing duo of Shedden and Matt Neal finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
“That was mega,” said Jackson. “He wasn’t going to get that win off me! I was determined it would be ours. A rear-wheel drive car around Knockhill is hard to beat so when I saw Rob (Collard) go, I thought ‘great’. Then young Sam (Tordoff) came at us but I managed to hold him off.
“It was fantastic really. He wasn’t going to get past me! It was a tough battle. We had the legs in sector one but he was quicker with traction through the back straight, Clarke and out of the hairpin. He drove a good race and fair play to him for the way he went about it.”
Rob Austin scored another impressive top six – at a circuit where he often excels – as the upward trend in form continues for Handy Motorsport.
Mercedes pair Adam Morgan and Aiden Moffat fought throughout with the WIX Racing man eventually getting the better of his younger Laser Tools Racing stablemate. Andrew Jordan and Jack Goff rounded out the top ten.
2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 21 – Knockhill:
1 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance 25:19.259 (81.05 mph)2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.236s3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.804s4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.297s5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +2.256s6 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +3.933s7 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +4.326s8 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +8.875s9 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +9.316s10 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +10.196s11 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +11.386s12 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +11.590s13 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +11.896s14 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +12.758s15 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +16.117s16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +17.215s17 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +21.381s18 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +24.587s19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +27.894s20 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +30.503s21 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +31.271s22 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +31.513s23 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +47.219s24 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +47.847s25 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1 lapDNF Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +13 lapsDNF Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +19 lapsDNF Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +19 lapsDNF Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +21 lapsDNF Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance
