Mat Jackson hailed his double-appearance on the British Touring Car Championship podium a ‘great result’ as he and his Motorbase Performance team returned to form at Knockhill.
After a solid, if unspectacular, return to the championship at Snetterton a fortnight earlier, Jackson signaled his intent on Saturday and came close to securing pole before being forced to settle for third on the grid for Sunday’s opening race.
Jackson had looked on course for victory in that encounter until he was overtaken by Rob Collard in the closing stages, but held on to finish second in front of Andy Priaulx.
The 34 year-old followed that with a second podium in race three as he followed home Gordon Shedden and Collard once more, before ending the day with a ninth-place in an incident-packed race three.
And although victory eluded him, the Ford Focus driver was pleased to have shown an impressive turn of pace at the Scottish circuit, and insisted he was focused on staying at the front of the pack.
“To come away from this weekend with two podiums is fantastic and a great result for the team,” said Jackson. “It was frustrating to have lost out on pole in qualifying but I think we’ve shown that we can mix it at the front now and that we’re on the pace.
“It’s been such a big learning curve for us and after being out of it for six months we’re really pleased. We need to sit down and look at the data ahead of Rockingham and see where we can improve. We’ve made a big step forward this weekend from Snetterton and hopefully we can do it again.”