Mat Jackson

Mat Jackson
Nationality	English
Born	June 10, 1981 (1981-06-10) (age 30) Henley-in-Arden (England)
2011 British Touring Car Championship
Debut season	2001
Current team	Airwaves Racing
Car no.	7
Former teams	Racing Silverline Jacksons Msport GR Motorsport
Starts	147
Wins	16
Poles	2
Fastest laps	16
Best finish	2nd in 2008
Previous series
2005–06 2000	SEAT Cupra Championship Renault Clio Cup
Championship titles
2006	SEAT Cupra Championship

Mat Jackson (born June 10, 1981 in Henley-in-Arden) is an English racing driver.

Jackson and his family-ran team contested the British Touring Car Championship in 2007 and 2008, in each case using the BMW Andy Priaulx used to win the previous year's World Touring Car Championship. Jackson run under the Jackson MSport banner in 2007, and as BMW Dealer Team UK in 2008. This support was from a network of BMW dealers rather than BMW themselves, so the team was still classed as an independent. For 2009 Jackson moved to the Racing Silverline Chevrolet team and in 2010 he raced for Airwaves BMW. For the 2011 Jackson will stay with Airwaves Racing but will now race a Ford Focus ST formerly run by Team Aon. He will be partnered by Liam Griffin.

Jackson previously won the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2006. He has also made an appearance on BBC's Top Gear, racing a motorhome.

Early Racing Career

Jackson driving at the Oulton Park of the 2006 SEAT Cupra Championship.

Jackson driving his family-run BMW 320si at the Snetterton round of the 2007 British Touring Car Championship season.

He started racing in karts in his teens, before finishing 4th in the 2000 Renault Clio Cup, his first attempt at tin-top racing. For 2001 he moved to the production class of the British Touring Car Championship with the GR team's Ford Focus, finishing 4th in his class. He struggled for funding in subsequent years, and was something of a forgotten man when he entered the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2005 with a family-run team. He was a revelation however, finishing as series runner-up, with a series-high 8 race wins, and a tally of 8 poles and 8 fastest laps. After being considered by SEAT for a BTCC drive [1], he remained in Cupras for 2006, taking the championship lead after a double victory at the season opener. A string of 9 wins in the first 12 races made him strong championship favourite, and he went on to clinch the title.

2007

Jackson was a frontrunner in the 2007 BTCC season, clinching many podium places before his first victory at Oulton Park in race three [2]. Thruxton did not go well for him, a crash and an engine failure leaving him with no points [3]. His home round at Donington saw him start 4th and briefly lead race one, before fading down the order as the wet conditions did not suit his rear-wheel drive BMW [4]. At the second Brands Hatch meeting he attempted to make an overtaking move at the first turn (around the outside) and spun, triggering an 11-car pile-up, leaving two drivers in hospital [5]. At the final rounds at Thruxton, Jackson showed pace and won the final race of the series. While everyone was focusing on the Fabrizio Giovanardi v Jason Plato title battle, Jackson sneaked inside Tom Coronel at the start of the third race and wowed everyone with his pace and superb defensive driving. He managed to hold Team RAC driver Colin Turkington behind him, and managed to gain a lead and win his second BTCC race of the season.

2008

At the first round at Brands Hatch, Jackson started at the pole position and led for over 3/4 of the race until rain started to fall and he lost grip in his BMW. He was overtaken by VX Racing's Giovanardi shortly before the end and had to settle for second place. In the second race he battled for a good fourth place, and in the third race he fought his way through the field for a second place finish behind the Team RAC BMW 320si of Turkington.

At Rockingham, Jackson started the weekend with a disappointing 10th on the grid but managed to fight his way up to 6th place. The second race was arguably the best of his BTCC career so far; with a brilliant start he quickly took the lead after mistakes by SEAT driver Darren Turner and Giovanardi, and recorded his third career victory to date. In the third race, which was delayed by rain, Jackson managed to fight his way up to second behind Turkington, despite his RWD BMW 320si slipping in the conditions. All was going well, with Jackson closely following Turkington, until an ambitious overtaking move around the outside resulted in him being pushed out wide and into the gravel trap. Jackson recorded a DNF and lost his chance of taking the championship lead.

After a good showing at the first two meetings of the season, Jackson followed it up with a less successful meeting at rounds 7, 8 and 9 at Donington Park. After qualifying 14th on the grid for the first race, Jackson drove brilliantly through the field, quickly making his way up to an incredible 5th place. His speed and possible top 5 finish was ruined though, as when Team Dynamics driver Tom Chilton challenged him for position, Chilton drove his Civic Type R straight into the back of Jackson, resulting in both of them ending up out of the race. The DNF in the first race meant Jackson started near the back of the grid for the second, but he did not let this hinder him as he showed the BMW's raw pace and his own aggressive driving style to battle his way up to an impressive 11th place, just outside the points. In the third race, he wasn't able to show this pace as much, but still managed to get his first points of the weekend with a solid 8th place finish.

Following the poor showings at Rockingham and Donington, Jackson delivered a good performance in all 3 races of the next round at Thruxton. After qualifying poorly for the second round in succession, Jackson started race one a lowly 12th on the grid. Jackson battled hard throughout the race and managed to bring the car home in a great 6th place. This was improved after SEAT driver Plato was disqualified after the race from third place, promoting Jackson to 5th position overall and 2nd in the independents. Jackson again finished 5th (and second to Turkington in the independent class) in a second race notable for many punctures. The third race was Jackson's most successful though. With the top 9 positions being reversed for the grid, Jackson remained in 5th on the grid. After a good start, Jackson stayed in the top 5 throughout the race, battling with the likes of Team Eurotech's Andrew Jordan, Giovanardi, Plato and Neal. He got lucky 4 laps from the end when Giovanardi and Jordan collided,with Jordan retiring and Jackson being able to move up to 2nd position. Despite tough pressure from defending champion Giovanardi in the last few laps, Jackson managed to hold on for a terrific 2nd place and a win in the independents.

Jackson followed his good performances at Thruxton with a hugely eventful but successful trip to Croft. After qualifying a decent 7th on the grid, race 1 took place in atrocious weather, pouring rain causing there to be rivers and puddles all over the track, which caused the racing to be very entertaining but dangerous. From the start, Jackson flew into an early lead, but the race had to be red flagged after an accident between Team RAC driver Stephen Jelley and Robertshaw Racing driver Alan Taylor caused an injury to a marshal. After a break to allow injuries to be treated, the racing started again but the weather had become worse. Jackson restarted 2nd on the grid but flew into the lead at the first corner. This meant he was the first to enter the treacherous Tower corner, which resulted in him locking his brakes and going straight on. He went through the gravel trap, but managed to return to the pack in a lowly 18th place. He stayed there though as another red flag was brought out and the race stopped because of the conditions making the racing too dangerous. Starting 18th on the grid for race 2, Jackson managed to gain many places with a lightning start. He then dispatched car after car, particularly at Clervaux corner, moving up the order towards the front. He managed to move up to 2nd place by overtaking Neal and came very close to catching the leader Turkington, eventually finishing only 0.101 seconds behind the Portadown driver, having overtaken 17 cars in 16 laps. Jackson started race 3 6th on the grid and after another great start was challenging for the 2nd place going into the first corner. He got nudged out wide by Team Eurotech's Mike Jordan going into corner resulting in him going through the gravel and dropping down a few places. With cars colliding and going off around him Jackson was able to steadily work his way back up a few places, despite colliding with Turner resulting in him going into the gravel and out of the race. Jackson managed to work his way up to 5th place in the end for a solid points finish and 2nd in the independents class.

2009

Following the pullout of key sponsor Accident Exchange, the team did not have the funds to run their car in 2009. Mat was not listed on the 2009 entry list for the BTCC, leaving his plans for the season unclear. However, he returned to the BTCC in a one off race for RML in a Chevrolet Lacetti at Thruxton,^[1] winning in the final race of the day. He was later then confimed to race the rest of the season for RML under the Sliverline Racing banner alongside Jason Plato.^[2] He generally struggled in the first half of the season, before a run of eight successive podium finishes (a record in the era of reverse-grid races) including a win at Knockhill and pole position at Silverstone^[3] took him to 4th in the standings^[4]

2010

Jackson was signed by Airwaves BMW for the 2010 season. He managed to win round nine at Brands Hatch and collected six podiums over the course of the season, finishing seventh in the final standings with a total of 155 points, 14 points behind team mate Steven Kane.

2011

For the 2011 season Jackson will stay with Airwaves Racing. The team will no longer run the BMW 320si but instead will compete with the Ford Focus ST for him and rookie team mate Liam Griffin. The cars have been acquired from Team Aon and will use the NGTC engine. In this season he returned to the front end of the championship battling Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal for the championship, winning races at Donington, Oulton Park, Croft and Snetterton.

Racing Record

Complete BTCC Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car																															Position	Points
2001	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	BHI		THR		OUL		SIL		MON		DON		KNO		SNE		CRO		OUL		SIL		DON		BHI						4th‡	151‡
			4	9	10	8	12	Ret	8	Ret	11	7	10	6*	Ret	Ret	7	9	16	7	10	13	8	Ret	Ret	9*	11	12
2007	Jacksons M.Sport	BMW 320si	BHI			ROC			THR			CRO			OUL			DON			SNE			BHI			KNO			THR			7th	158
			DSQ	8	3	10	4	2	Ret	Ret	DNS	9	4	3	5	6	1*	9	10	4	4	5	7	Ret	4	3	Ret	10	9	7	5	1*
2008	BMW Dealer Team UK	BMW 320si	BHI			ROC			DON			THR			CRO			SNE			OUL			KNO			SIL			BHI			2nd	226
			2*	4	2	6	1*	Ret	Ret	11	8	5	5	2	18*	2	5	15	7	1*	12	5	4	6	5	4	2	13*	1*	1*	1*	4
2009	RML	Chevrolet Lacetti	BHI			THR			DON			OUL			CRO			SNE			KNO			SIL			ROC			BHGP			5th	165
						8	9	1*
	Racing Silverline								10	6	4	19	Ret	8	Ret	DNS	DNS	2	NC	DNS	3	2	1*	1*	3*	1*	3	2*	5	12	12	11
2010	Airwaves BMW	BMW 320si	THR			ROC			BHGP			OUL			CRO			SNE			SIL			KNO			DON			BHI			7th	155
			3	5	2	13	4	Ret	10	11	1*	4	4	7	9	Ret	7	2	5	7	13	10	3	10	6	5	3	5	8	13	8	4
2011	Team Airwaves	Ford Focus ST	BHI			DON			THR			OUL			CRO			SNE			KNO			ROC			BHGP			SIL			4th	191
			4	3	2	5	10	1*	6	5	2	Ret	9	1*	2	5	1*	6	6	1*	19	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	2	2	5	20	26	21

• Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point given in first race only), italics signifies fastest lap (1 point given all races) and * signifies at least one lap in the lead (1 point given all races).

‡ Production Championship

References

1. ^ O'Leary, Jamie (2009-04-20). "Jackson to return in RML Chevrolet". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74134. Retrieved 2009-04-20. 
2. ^ "Jackson added to Silverline banner". Crash.net. 2009-05-14. http://www.crash.net/BTCC/News/146739/1/jackson_added_to_silverline_banner.html. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
3. ^ Jackson on Silverstone pole
4. ^ Jackson sees podium run finally end

External links

• Mat Jackson's Official site
• Profile at BTCCPages.com
• British Touring Car Championship Official Website
• Profile from btcc:action
• Career BTCC Results

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tom Boardman	SEAT Cupra Championship 2006	Succeeded by Jonathan Adam

Persondata
Name	Jackson, Mat
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 10, 1981
Place of birth	Henley-in-Arden (England)
Date of death
Place of death