Motorbase Performance enjoyed another strong weekend in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Silverstone, with Team Manager Oly Collins heralding a “great team result” following Mat Jackson’s pole and win in race one.
Having only just taken the team’s first-ever pole in the previous round at Rockingham, Jackson made it two in a row at Silverstone on Satuday, with a time more than two tenths faster than championship leader Gordon Shedden.
With no ballast as a result of starting the championship late, Jackson was able to romp away to a second win of the season in race one, whilst a puncture in race two cost him a podium, having earlier been passed by WSR’s Andy Priaulx for the lead.
That left Jackson to mount a recovery drive in race three from 23rd on the grid, with the Ford driver eventually finishing in seventh after making up an impressive 16 places during the race.
“The car was awesome in race one,” said Jackson. “With no weight on-board we were able to control the race and the gap to the guys behind us, and it was great to get another race win under our belts.
“Having the maximum ballast for race two made the car a bit more of a handful but we got a good start and managed to lead a few laps until Priaulx came through. Even then we were holding on right up until the tyre failed, which was really frustrating.
“Race three was mega though; to come through from the back of the grid to seventh was a strong finish to the weekend and it was another good result for Motorbase with both cars ending up in the top ten.
“I think Brands will be another interesting weekend, the Focus is in the window and consistently performing well, so more of the same would be great.”
Such was the team’s performance at the weekend that second driver James Cole scored his best-ever result with ninth in race three, adding to an earlier tenth-place finish in race two which gave him pole position for the final race.
“I’m really happy to have scored two top ten finishes and my first BTCC pole; I’m just disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to make the most of that through no fault of my own,” explained Cole. “Considering we started the day in 19th, to come away with two top finishes is great and we can go into Brands with confidence now.
“I’m kicking myself slightly as we had the opportunity for a podium finish but I’m chuffed to come away with a tenth and ninth from the weekend. Maybe we would have had a top six if it wasn’t for Plato’s move in race three but that’s touring cars.
“We keep moving forward in every race and I’m really happy for the team that we managed to get both cars into the top ten this weekend.”
Team Manager Oly Collins hailed the team results, although he was also critical of Jason Plato’s move in race three which cost cole a handful of positions.
“Another pretty good weekend for us,” exclaimed Collins. “Mat was unstoppable on Saturday and with the exception of a puncture today he was on fire again.
“James had a bit of a breakthrough today with two top ten finishes proving he can mix it with the front runners, even if Plato did his best to ruin his race three – maybe the pressure is getting to him?
“Once again the Motorbase crew were outstanding, and we thoroughly enjoyed some great team results this weekend.”