Mat Jackson confident of Motorbase progress

Mat Jackson says he is confident that Motorbase will be able to challenge to run towards the front of the field after an improved performance in qualifying for the latest rounds of the BTCC at Thruxton.

Although unable to break into the top ten, Jackson secured his best qualifying result of the season to date with P11 in a session that saw the top 21 drivers covered by under a second.

Six tenths of a second off the overall pace, Jackson will now seek to fight forwards into the top ten and said he felt confident of a solid race day for the Ford squad.

“It’s so close on the times that a tenth of a second or so can mean quite a few places on the grid,” he said. “Obviously it’s better than we have enjoyed in the first few races, but at the same time, we know we still aren’t where we want to be.

“When you consider that Gordon [Shedden] has full ballast onboard and is on the front row, you can see that we still have work to do and that’s a seriously impressive performance. But we are making improvements and we’re in the pack with people we know we can actually race against tomorrow.

“I think we’ll have a decent race car and I’m happy with what we have. There is no reason why we can’t challenge for the podium and potentially a win if things go our way but we need to see what everyone else has at the same time.”

NB: Jackson will now start race one from P10 after Tom Chilton lost his quickest time in qualifying