Mat Jackson looking to “focus on own game”

In what was a very tight qualifying session for the final race weekend of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Brands Hatch, lap record breaker Mat Jackson has one goal in mind, which is to win the first race around the 2.433-mile Grand Prix circuit.

“We’ve just got to focus on our game and that clearly has to be to win the first race, as well as getting the fastest lap for race two,” said the Motorbase driver to TouringCars.net, who obliterated Jason Plato’s record from 2013 by 0.529 seconds.

Jackson had to keep pushing the EcoBoost-powered Ford Focus, and managed to improve his lap time several times, as well posting the fastest speed through Pligrim’s Drop at 135 miles per hour.

“It is just so close, the times are so tight. We’ve got to wait and see, as it never is that easy. It’s going to be tough,” he said, crediting the team for the hard work that have done, which included the development of the EcoBoost engine, replacing the outgoing older specification Duratec engine.

This is despite the “frustrating” financial issues that prevented the team to start the season, admitted Jackson, which prompted their return to the championship at Snetterton after the summer break.

“The domination we’re seeing for pole position is a team effort. Engine builder, car builder, engineer on our car, driver in our car and the data guys, it’s the whole package.

“We’ve got that car dialled into where it is at its optimum and we’re in the window, and we’re on fire. We’ll make the most of it.”