Motorbase: Jackson can win title

Date published : 03 Aug 2011 - 14:39:12

Motorbase Performance team principal David Bartrum believes his lead driver Mat Jackson has every chance of winning the British Touring Car Championship as the series enters its second half at Snetterton this weekend. Despite a lack of qualifying pace, Jackson has taken three victories in his Ford Focus ST and currently lies just nine points behind Honda's championship leader Matt Neal. Bartrum believes that the team can now push forward to challenge Neal with five rounds to go after the summer break. "Nine points can be overturned in one race and there are 15 left so a lot can happen," Bartrum said. "Mat has been a revelation this year and there's definitely a chance of the title." Jackson, who is enjoying his best BTCC campaign since finishing second in the 2008 championship, added: "We did some pre-season testing on the Snetterton circuit and it went well. We posted the second fastest time behind the Honda, so it should be fun to see how much we have all progressed throughout the season. "The Honda boys have been saying there's nothing left to come from their Civic but I don't believe them for a minute. "They will surely have found a bit more performance during the break and so will the others so it's important we don't stand still. Make no mistake, this is the time of the season when the top teams and drivers really crank it up and we need to make sure we've got the legs to go with them."