Redstone Racing left the sixth weekend of the 2012 British Touring Car Championship with a smile on their face after a successful weekend at Snetterton.
Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the season marked the first run for the teams’ new NGTC Ford Focus ST and Mat Jackson secured a trio of top eight finishes in the car, as well as fighting for a podium finish in the third race.
Jackson worked his way up the order in all three races having qualified down in 16th position. Race one saw Jackson finish 8th, race two he was 6th and this gave him a second row start for the reverse grid race.
The 31yr old ran as high as third in the opening laps before dropping down the order to cross the line 5th; this became fourth after Gordon Shedden was excluded from the results.
“Going into the first race at P16 we always knew it was going to be a dog-fight and having the new car and no spare parts we obviously have to be mindful of that so to come away with three top eight finishes and a sniff at the podium is pretty remarkable,” explained Jackson.
“You have to pinch yourself and remind yourself that the car has only just started 18 hours was the first time the engine ran and it’s a testament to the Redstone Racing guys that the car has run faultlessly all weekend. We came here viewing today as a test day and there we were on the second row in only our second race– it’s been a dream start so far and hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”
Team-mate Aron Smith had one of his strongest weekends’ to date and brought home the #5 S2000 Spec Ford Focus home inside the top ten twice, and the final race saw a top seven finish, which became a top six after the exclusion of Shedden.
Irishman Smith started off the weekend by qualifying 11th but dropped back in the first race after going the wrong way with the set-up on the Ford Focus. He crossed the line 16th.
Race 2 saw Smith swap places with Dave Newsham on numerous occasions to secure a top ten finish, which he converted into a top seven finish in the final race and the best result to date in the BTCC for Smith.
“Race 1 was a little bit frustrating,” said the Irish Motorsport Driver of the Year. “We set the car up to preserve the tyres and it hindered us a bit as we were running well. We revamped the car for the second race 2 which meant we were much better able to attack and just being a little braver at the start of the race helped big style.
“I had a great battle with Newsham, I’m not sure how many times we traded places but it was certainly entertaining – both wing mirrors were missing off my car! I really enjoyed the last race, getting up to have a chance to mix it with Plato and Jordan was great, I was hoping for a top ten finish so to get into the top seven is amazing.
“The car had good pace again this weekend and I think the S2000 will be well suited to Knockhill – I can’t wait to get back out there again!”
For David Bartrum, the Snetterton weekend was a special one for him and the team and he is pleased with how everything has gone.
“This weekend was a special weekend,” Bartrum commented. “It announced Motorbase as a constructor. We served up a car at 6am Saturday morning that had only been finished three hours before and we came here and went out at free practise 1 and turned a wheel for the first time ever, it progressed in free practise 2, again in qualifying and then to go out and move forward in every race is just unbelievable.
“We never moved backwards all weekend. If you would have told me on Friday night that we’d get three top eight finishes this weekend I’d have said I’ll be a very lucky man if we do!
“Aaron’s done a fantastic job today, he had a tough first race, but he came back and put in a great performance to finish up just behind Mat. This weekend’s been a great result for the team, we’ve had good performances all round, it was nice to see Liam here supporting his team-mates and we’re back on track now in the standings.”
“It’s a testament to everybody at Motorbase; all the guys that have worked so hard behind the scenes, and all the guys that work so hard on the race days and I’m a very proud man of my little team.”
Next up for Redstone Racing is a trip across the border to Scotland and Knockhill for rounds 19, 20 and 21 over the 25/26 August.