Wrotham based Motorbase Performance celebrated a sensational double Independent Title win on the Kent-based squad’s home circuit during an action-packed Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season finale on the Brands Hatch GP circuit.
Securing both the Independent Teams’ and Independent Drivers’ Titles in front of a delighted home crowd, the Wrotham-based outfit commemorated its 11th year on the BTCC grid in perfect winning style – with Mat Jackson claiming the team’s 7th win of the season during the nail-biting season climax.
An unprecedented eight drivers headed into the final weekend in contention for the UK’s most-coveted motorsport crown with Jackson and team-mate Andrew Jordan in 5th and 6th place respectively – the only independent drivers featuring within the title challengers.
With the battle for overall title coming down to the final race of the season, Jackson’s race 3 win saw the DUO-backed driver end the season in 3rd place overall – the highest-placed Independent driver – just 16 points off returning champion Gordon Shedden. In spite of a challenging weekend, Red Bull athlete Jordan managed to hold on the top Independent Drivers spot; clinching his third career Independent Drivers trophy in his maiden season as part of the Motorbase line-up.
In the Teams Championship Motorbase took a credible 3rd place overall behind the BMW and Honda manufacturer-backed outfits, ending the season just 34 points off title winners Team JCT600. Even more remarkable was the 161 point lead over its nearest rivals in the Independent Teams standings.
A disappointing qualifying session on Saturday left Jackson languishing down in 20th for Sunday’s opening race. Pirtek-backed Jordan fared slightly better in P13 but the results left both drivers with a huge task ahead of them in Sunday’s final three races.
A good start by Jordan in the #77 Ford in race 1 was abruptly cut short following an unavoidable head-on shunt on lap 2 and the Pirtek-man recorded his first DNF of the season. Jackson battled his way through the closely-fought pack and eventually brought the #7 Focus home in P11.
A remarkable rebuild of Jordan’s Focus by the Motorbase crew saw the Pirtek Racing ST join the back of the grid for race 2 and their efforts were quickly rewarded with an epic drive from the 27-year-old. Carving his way through the field as the laps unfolded – Jordan made up an astonishing 18 places to cross the line in P13. Jackson’s charge forward continued and the 35-year-old pushed his way through to take 7th at the chequered flag.
Starting from pole following the reverse grid draw, an expertly controlled drive from Jackson in the #7 Focus saw the Motorbase-man claim a superb lights to flag victory in the final race of the season – recording a 25th outright win for Motorbase and his 30th BTCC career win. A spirited drive from Jordan saw the Lichfield-based driver bring the #77 Focus over the start-finish line in P11, sealing the Independent Drivers’ honours.
The weekend topped off Motorbase’s most successful BTCC campaign to date after an incredible year that saw drivers Mat Jackson and Andrew Jordan amass an impressive tally of 7 outright race wins, 7 outright podiums, 15 Independent race wins and 21 Independent podiums between them in the mountune-powered Ford Focus STs. Jackson also jointly tops the table of most race wins this season with 5 to his name having also led the most laps during 2016.
The 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season gets underway with the pre-season media launch at Donington Park on March 16 before the season opener on the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on April 1/2.
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