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Jackson reigns on the Cupra parade
In atrociously wet and slippery conditions, Mat Jackson dominated the two Smartnav SEAT Cupra Championship races at Knockhill circuit in Scotland by winning Rounds 13 and 14 by a country mile and setting the fastest lap in both.
The talented 24-year old driver from Henley-in-Arden in the West Midlands had never raced a saloon car in the wet before but he took to it like a duck to water. Appropriately sponsored by Whale Tankers, it was Mat’s third win in a row and the sixth of the season in his family-run Jackson Motorsport Leon Cupra R. What’s more the magnificent race results moves him into second position in the series.
Having started both races from the front row of the grid after a fantastic qualifying session, Mat achieved a near perfect score on race day, but his attempts to break down Tom Boardman’s large Championship lead were limited when Tom finished 2nd in both races in his Special Tuning UK/Triple R Leon Cupra R. It was a case of third time lucky for Tom at Knockhill, as the results break a jinx that had dogged the 21-year old driver from Forton in Lancashire’s previous two visits to the spectacular circuit in the Kingdom of Fife.
Yet it was Mat who ruled as heavy rain and low cloud made racing conditions extremely difficult. While many others spun, aquaplaned into gravel traps and slid into each other, Mat never put a foot wrong and won Round 13 by 6.107 seconds and the following race by a massive 9.181 seconds!
Mat said: “That’s three straight wins now and I’ve got to win the last four races as well. Tom Boardman has the lead in the series, but we’re quicker than him and as far as I’m concerned he’s the one who has got to try and catch us now!”
Tom said: “I love winning, so I’m a little disappointed to have finished second twice. But it’s a good solid result in the Championship and my best results by far at Knockhill, so it’s not too bad. The plan is to go to Silverstone next and get as many points as I can again. I love Silverstone and I can’t wait.”
While Jackson Motorsport and Triple R celebrated a pair of podiums, so too did Barwell Motorsport. Alan Blencowe (Blue Diamond/Barwell Motorsport Leon Cupra R) came from 9th on the grid to finish 3rd in Round 13 in what he said was his best race of the season, while stable-mate Carl Breeze (Blue Chip Group/Barwell Motorsport Leon Cupra R) finished 3rd in Round 14. Breeze, who also came from 8th to finish 4th in the first race, is now 3rd in the series, three points behind Mat.
Breeze said: “It’s not been a great race weekend for me, we finished fourth and third and if you can do that when you haven’t had a good weekend that’s not too bad.”
Tom Ferrier (Darwin/Team Parker Racing Leon Cupra R) qualified second (behind Mat) for the first race, but finished last after the seal broke on his windscreen and it misted up so badly that he just could not see where he was going. Round 14 was much better, as he finished 4th – a position he holds in the overall points standings.
Ferrier was not the only driver to suffer visibility problems as the wet conditions caused the inside of many windscreens to mist up. One of the worst affected was Adrian Churchill (Bedford Battery Co/Churchill Motorsport Leon Cupra R) in Round 14. Having started his first SEAT race from pole position (and therefore denying Mat a clean-sweep), he quickly dropped to last place and eventually came into the pits to retire as he couldn’t see anything out of the windscreen.
The slippery conditions contributed to a lot of spins – the most spectacular of which was by Adrian in the first race as he completed two prefect 360 degree pirouettes at Scotsman Corner. What made it all the more beautiful to watch was that Chris Egginton (Harben Barker/Team GVR Leon Cupra R) spun in near perfect unison in avoiding a collision.
Scotland’s Jonathan Young (Commercial Vehicle Direct/Triple R Leon Cupra R) came into the pits in Round 13 after spinning on two successive laps and picking up a lot of gravel. Cheered on by over 100 VIP guests from his family-owned Scot Seat Direct business, the 21-year old racing driver from Fenwick in Ayrshire did them proud by finishing 7th in the next race.
Rounds 15 and 16 of the Smartnav SEAT Cupra Championship take place at Silverstone on Sunday 18th September.
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