Airwaves BMW drivers Steven Kane and Mat Jackson head to Donington Park in the knowledge that they must deliver strong race results if either are to have any chance of taking the Independent Driver’s championship.
Both drivers are currently in the middle of a tightly-contested battle for the team’s first championship in the BTCC. Although both still have a mathematical chance of taking the overall driver’s championship, the real focus is on the Independent’s championships.
Kane is currently 2nd in the Independents standings, 22 points adrift of leader Tom Onslow-Cole. Jackson is further off in 4th and 37 points away from the lead although just 4 points behind the other Team Aon driver of Tom Chilton. Both drivers know that Sunday’s three races are vitally important after a mixed weekend at Knockhill two weeks ago that saw both drivers lose ground to their Team Aon rivals.
“At the start of the season not throwing points away is very much in the minds of the drivers but at this stage that no longer matters so much, it’s all about results,” said Jackson. “We have to score big points and wins but Donington gives us a real shot in a BMW, last year proved that. We’ll need a bit of luck but we have nothing to lose and all to gain and I’ll be fighting as hard as I can to make sure I go to Brands with a realistic shot at the title.”
Jackson is referring to the fact that at Donington Park last year Motorbase (Airwaves BMW) scored its second-ever win in the BTCC with Rob Collard at the wheel.
Kane had a much better time than his team-mate last time out and hopes to continue his form into this weekend at the newly re-opened Donington Park circuit. Once again the key to the Airwaves challenge will be to monitor tyre wear and use this to their advantage as the race progresses.
“It’s a do-or-die weekend and it’s great to be going back to Donington with the championship at such an exciting stage,” said Kane ahead of the weekend. “The sweeping hills and the constant pace you need to stay at the front of the pack make it a proper driver’s circuit.
“As a team we need to catch the cars in front of us from Ford, Honda and Chevrolet but Knockhill was a real positive and I’m pleased to be coming here off the back of such a solid weekend. Until we get there it’s difficult to know how quick we’ll need to be but the team has the experience and the knowledge to come out on top. I’ll be doing everything I physically can to win – you can count on that.”
Team manager Oliver Collins admits that the team’s aim for the remaining two meetings is to secure the Independents championships – although with strong opposition from Team Aon they cannot take anything for granted.
“We’re looking forward to a return to Donington, it’s a fantastic race circuit and the BMW is good round there, proving it with a win in 2009,” he said. “We are realistically looking at the two Independent Championships, which are available, and to achieve this we will be fighting for outright wins as usual. We were slightly disappointed leaving Knockhill but on reflection we had a lot of positives to take away from the meeting. With just two rounds to go we’re just looking at a good finish to the championship.”