Wrotham based Motorbase Performance are back on track this weekend as Oulton Park plays host to the Party in the Park and the latest round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. 

Motorbase are currently the Independent championship leaders and they will be hoping that they can keep that going this weekend with drivers Mat Jackson and Andrew Jordan who will race in his 250th BTCC race.

The  squad arrives 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 3^rd 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 10^th 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 250^th 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 4^th and Jordan currently 8^th 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.”

Speaking ahead of that landmark race, Jordan said: “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.”

Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk