The Airwaves Racing team enjoyed a solid weekend at Thruxton with lead driver Mat Jackson taking home three points finishes, including a podium visit in the last race, to strengthen the team’s championship challenge.
Jackson entered the weekend third overall in the driver’s championship and left the Hampshire venue having improved his position to second. He has also improved his position in the Independents category which he now leads.
An average qualifying session saw Jackson line up in 8th for the start of the first race of the weekend, in which he would also have to carry 27kg of success ballast for being third in the championship going into the race meeting.
The first race went well for Jackson and the Motorbase team with him finishing in sixth after a long battle with Jason Plato and Tom Boardman. Despite carrying extra weight Jackson was also able to pick up a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race, set early on on lap 2 as the Thruxton circuit quickly wears tyres. Team-mate Liam Griffin had a less spectacular race and he finished in 14th.
The second race of the day saw Jackson improve his position to finish in fifth – ultimately landing him the same starting position for the final race of the day after the top nine drivers were reversed. There was less good news for the sister car of Griffin however as the BTCC rookie spun out at the Club chicane later in the race and could finish no better than 17th and last.
The final race of the day was the strongest for the Motorbase team as Jackson got off to a spectacularly strong start to be in second after the first few corners. However despite challenging leader Plato for the entirety of the race, both before and after a brief safety car intervention, he was unable to find a way past the normally-aspirated Cruze in front. Griffin took a 15th placed finish after a largely uneventful race.
Jackson’s consistency means he is firmly in the championship hunt after picking up his fourth podium of the season so far. Jackson has scored 30, 24 and 24 points respectively in the last three meetings making him one of the most consistent drivers of the current season.
Jackson admitted after the races that he was not expecting to be as strong as he was at Thruxton.
“An awesome result for the team,” said Jackson, 29. “It’s great come away with a second place result and to pull some points in from the weekend. We knew that Thruxton was never going to suit our car and we had to salvage whatever result we could from this weekend. It’s still early days, but every point counts and it feels fantastic to be second place in Championship standings and leading the Independents going into Oulton Park.”
Team Manager Olly Collins echoed Jackson’s sentiments about the car not suiting the Focus.
“All in all, we’re quite satisfied with today’s results considering Thruxton was never going to suit our car this weekend,” said Collins. “Mat produced a great start in the final race to match his previous two, which in turn produced the chance for him to secure another podium for this season and take home a nice hatful of points.”
Strong results from Jackson made the weekend even sweeter for Team Principal David Bartrum who was celebrating his 50th birthday at the circuit.
“A fantastic day for Airwaves Racing,” he said. “I’m delighted that Mat Jackson delivered the 50th Birthday present I wanted the most with another visit to the podium! We came here to score points and that’s exactly what we did to keep our momentum going and our Championship challenge on track.”
Despite scoring no points at the weekend, Griffin remained upbeat about his performances at Thruxton.
“A very successful weekend for me,” he said. “I enjoyed it immensely. I consistently improved during the weekend and found some extra pace to put me up competing where I feel I should be. It’s a just case now of building confidence and getting into the mix of things which will come with experience. Oulton Park is my favourite track on the BTCC calendar so I’m looking forward to heading there next and hopefully building on this weekends improvements.”