Independent Championship leaders Motorbase Performance return to Oulton Park circuit this coming weekend as the picturesque Cheshire circuit plays host to rounds 10, 11 & 12 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (June 4/5).
The Motorbase Performance and Pirtek Racing squad arrive at the one of the most popular circuits on the BTCC calendar in winning form after storming back onto the top step of the podium during a thrilling weekend at Hampshire's Thruxton circuit during the championship’s third meeting of the season.
A commanding performance by both Ford Focus STs saw Mat Jackson and Andrew Jordan share the spoils with a win apiece for the Motorbase duo and a further 3rd placed podium for Andrew in the #77 Focus. The brace of wins also marked a significant achievement for the Motorbase-built NGTC Focus which clocked up a 10th outright BTCC win for the Blue Oval since making its debut appearance in 2012.
Having extended its lead in the Independents Teams standings David Bartrum’s Kent-based outfit now has its sights firmly set on closing the gap on the overall leaders with both Mat and Andrew looking to add to their points tally and move up in the driver standings.
Duo-backed driver Mat Jackson, who turns 35 next week, is confident that following the squad's successes at Thruxton the Ford Focus STs should be firmly back on pace for the weekend's racing action and the Cotswold-based driver is hoping to add more silverware to his birthday celebrations.
Likewise his team-mate Andrew Jordan is fired up for the challenge of pushing the Pirtek Racing Focus through the undulating, high speed corners of the challenging circuit. Having joined the ranks of 2016 race winners last time out, the Red Bull Athlete is determined to mark his 250th BTCC race in winning style.
“We've had a small break since our last race meeting to evaluate our performances so far and the guys have been busy back at base as usual;” said Team Manager Oly Collins. “We haven't been sitting still which will no doubt be the case for all of our competitors but hopefully we’ll be able to carry the momentum from our double winning race weekend at Thruxton to Oulton Park.”
With Jackson sitting in 4th and Jordan currently 8th in the overall driver standings, the #7 and #77 Focus STs will carry 48kg and 21kg of success ballast respectively heading into the weekend. “Both Mat and Andrew are carrying weight into the weekend so we'll have to see what effect that has for qualifying and race 1;” explained Collins.
“Clearly the BMWs and Hondas are going to be strong and will be a real threat along with Ingram and Morgan as they have been so far this season. It will also be interesting to see how the Suburu’s perform now that they’ve managed to get some testing it but we're confident we will be strongly in the mix.
“Oulton Park is a fantastic circuit; one of the best on the calendar which I'm sure will offer the same close racing we've seen in the opening rounds.”
Rounds 10, 11 & 12 of the 2016 BTCC season take place at Oulton Park on June 4/5. Live coverage of Sunday's events will be shown on ITV4, itv.com and also in HD from 11.15am – 6pm; with itv.com featuring live streaming online of Saturday's qualifying session between 3.20 and 3.50pm.
Driver Quotes: #77 Driver Andrew Jordan: "Oulton has always been one of my favourite race weekends, I have won there previously but the crowd always get in to the spirit of a BTCC weekend, and the weather is normally very good there. Coming off my first win of the season has really given me a confidence boost. Thruxton was a real turning point for us and if we’d managed to score points in race 3 I think we would have left top 4 in the Championship, that said we now come in to Oulton with not much success ballast on so my aim will be to get pole.
“I really feel that now I have got the long awaited win then many more will follow, but we’ll play the long game. The most important thing is to make sure we stay consistent and keep our eye on the ball in terms of going for the title. As for it being my 250th BTCC race, that’s something I am very proud of, it really is a dream to race in the BTCC but to get to that many races is very special. I owe a big thank you to a lot of people especially my loyal sponsors, as without them I wouldn’t have been able to reach my dream of becoming BTCC Champion.”
#7 Driver Mat Jackson: "Off the back of our successful weekend at Thruxton I think everybody is rightly filled with confidence at Motorbase. It’s great to be leading the Independents’ championship at this point in the season, but our eyes are on the overall title – that’s the one we want – and that’s what we’re aiming for. With the results we’ve had so far this season, there’s no reason at all why we can’t achieve it.
"Oulton's a great place to race at, one of my favourites. It’s a proper circuit which breaks the mould and I'm really looking forward to getting back out there again this weekend and taking the fight to the Hondas and BMWs.”
