Jackson wins thrilling Race 3 at Knockhillposted in BTCC14 | 08 | 2016

MAT JACKSON WON the final British Touring Car Championship race at Knockhill today, capitalising on a brilliant, if ultimately frustrating to others, defensive drive in his Ford Focus.

Jackson’s win made him the the first driver to win four races this season. But the Focus driver, who started from pole position on the reverse grid, was hounded over the closing 10 laps by championship leader Sam Tordoff (BMW), Jason Plato (Subaru) and Honda’s Gordon Shedden.

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With little more than a second covering all four cars, Jackson positioned his Ford perfectly on every corner as he battled to keep the chasing pack behind him.

Earlier in the race, Rob Collard — who entered the weekend leading the championship in his BMW, and who started P2 in Race 3 — and Subaru’s Colin Turkington, crashed out from second and third place when they came together exiting the fast right-hander at Clarks.

Tordoff now heads to the next round at Rockingham in a fortnight leading the championship by nine points, ahead of Matt Neal’s Honda. Collard has slipped to third, 32 points off the lead, with Shedden fourth, a further eight points adrift.

DRIVER QUOTES — RACE 3:

P1 MAT JACKSON:

“That was mega. There was no way Sam (Tordoff) was going to get that win off me: I was pretty determined that win was going to be ours.

“The rear-wheel drive round Knockhill is clearly the car to be in, and I saw Rob (Collard) go off and thought, ‘great, that helps’. Then young Sam came into the game and he was having a go overtime, but I just had to cover him off coming into the Hairpin.

“It’s a mega result for everyone at the team. It\s been a long road, bringing it back from last year, and yes, fantastic.

“I had to be inch-perfect right through that race, making sure I placed the car in exactly the right position, at every corner on every lap.

“It was tough. We had the legs on Sam through the first sector, but he was quicker through Clarks onto the back straight, and also from the Hairpin because of traction. It was just a case of watching him and covering him off.

“But fair play to him, he drove it fair. There are a number of other drivers out there who would just have had me off to get passed. Sam didn’t: he drove a good race, and a great result for everybody.”

P2 SAM TORDOFF:

“I just couldn’t get passed Mat (Jackson: I guess that’s what happens when you park your car on every apex and you’ve got the speeds on the straights to get away.

“Mat drove a great race. I had Jason (Plato) for company right behind me, so I was looking in the mirror at every corner, but yeh, we’ll take that: two seconds and a fifth, that’s what championships are made of.

“It’s been a good weekend for scoring points. We use need to keep doing more of the same. The car’s fast, it’s good on weight, and I feel comfortable, so we keep going as it is.

“Jason gave me a lot of trouble through that race. I’m glad he had the Honda behind him to give him trouble because if there had been no Honda there, I’m not sure I would have been able to keep him behind me. I’m trying to overtake and defend at the same time: it’s tough round here.

“We’ve not been the fastest down the straights for a long  time, and it’s difficult when you come to a circuit like this; there’s nothing much you can do.”

P3 JASON PLATO:

“It was a good race. There was a lot of thought going on. Everybody’s brains were working overtime there.

“Sam couldn’t mount a challenge on the Ford because it’s too fast in a straight line: it’s in a different league to everyone else. While he could close up, Mat (Jackson) was driving so defensively, Sam just couldn’t mount a  challenge.

“At the end of every straight, the distance to Mat was too big, which then meant Sam was very much watching what I was doing, and he had me covered, and it just meant we got into something of a stalemate, albeit a fast one.

“In those situations, it shouldn’t; you should be able to get passed the guy in front because he’s in trouble. But we’ve got some strange things going on at the moment with engine performance.

“But it was a great race: I loved it.”

P4 GORDON SHEDDEN:

“I made decent progress at the start, but once the goodness of the soft-compound tyres had gone, I felt I was just a bit of a sitting duck really. I can’t keep up in a straight line at the minute.

“I just didn’t have enough squirt to get up the inside of Jason (Plato). It was mighty frustrating, sat there for the last 10 laps unable to get passed. Everyone’s defending and stopping cars from passing, but it is what it is.

“Fourth place, it’s points, it’s something. It’s not great, but we’ve got work to do on the way to the next round at Rockingham.

“I don’t like being driven passed on a straight line, and that’s what’s been happening to me all weekend. I’ve been bottom of every speed trap.”

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Jim McGill