Mat Jackson produced a memorable defensive drive in the final BTCC encounter at Knockhill, as the Motorbase Performance driver fended off a gaggle of cars to claim his fourth win of the season.
It was status quo in the opening laps as initially Jackson led the squabbling duo of Rob Collard and Colin Turkington. That scrap spilled over on lap eight as Turkington's Subaru tapped Collard's BMW into a lurid slide. As the damaged Team JCT600 with GardX car straightened out further contact ensued and both cars were fired onto the grass and out of contention.
This brought Sam Tordoff, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden into play as Ford battled BMW, Subaru and Honda. The quartet remained inseparable throughout the remainder of the race, but all attempts to make a pass were rebuffed by the car ahead.
The quartet were covered by just 1.2 seconds as the chequered flag fell, but it was Jackson punching the air as he roared by his delighted team members on the pit wall. Tordoff and Plato completed the podium, with the Halfords Yuasa Racing duo of Shedden and Matt Neal finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
"That was mega," said Jackson. "He wasn’t going to get that win off me! I was determined it would be ours. A rear-wheel drive car around Knockhill is hard to beat so when I saw Rob (Collard) go, I thought ‘great’. Then young Sam (Tordoff) came at us but I managed to hold him off.
"It was fantastic really. He wasn’t going to get past me! It was a tough battle. We had the legs in sector one but he was quicker with traction through the back straight, Clarke and out of the hairpin. He drove a good race and fair play to him for the way he went about it."
Rob Austin scored another impressive top six – at a circuit where he often excels – as the upward trend in form continues for Handy Motorsport.
Mercedes pair Adam Morgan and Aiden Moffat fought throughout with the WIX Racing man eventually getting the better of his younger Laser Tools Racing stablemate. Andrew Jordan and Jack Goff rounded out the top ten.
2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 21 – Knockhill:
1 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance 25:19.259 (81.05 mph)
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +0.236s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +0.804s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.297s
5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +2.256s
6 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +3.933s
7 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +4.326s
8 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +8.875s
9 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +9.316s
10 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +10.196s
11 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +11.386s
12 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +11.590s
13 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +11.896s
14 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +12.758s
15 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +16.117s
16 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +17.215s
17 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +21.381s
18 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +24.587s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +27.894s
20 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +30.503s
21 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +31.271s
22 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +31.513s
23 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +47.219s
24 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +47.847s
25 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1 lap
DNF Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +13 laps
DNF Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +19 laps
DNF Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +19 laps
DNF Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +21 laps
DNF Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance
