Young Tom Jackson didn’t have the best time on the track at the last round of the Ginetta Junior Championship from Rockingham.

He is hoping to make amends for that this weekend as he heads to Silverstone for the latest round of the season.

Speaking to Kent Sports News about the last race weekend, Tom said: “The Rockingham race weekend, simply was my worst weekend of racing, I’ve had. It was very frustrating knowing that I did have the pace to put it on pole and win, because of a test day I had done there previously and being the quickest of the day.

“So then too come to the weekend and find myself struggling, and me believing I was giving it all I had was very disappointing. Still to qualify three tenths off pole with going brakes and brake fluid on the right hand side tyres(the most important side at Rockingham) was fine, but then getting my two quickest laps disqualified pushed me down to 8^th and 9^th, which was upsetting.”

Tom finished last in race one and it had nothing to do with him being off the pace but do the fact his car developed quite a problem as he explained.

“The reason for finishing last in race one was due to my lack of any brakes. Having brake fluid rapidly leaking onto my right hand side tyres, and no breaks resulting in one of the hardest races I’ve ever had to complete. So it did have a huge knock on my moral for the weekend because it felt everything was going against me.

“I think it was quite obvious that I had issue of some sort during the first race. I had gone from ninth to fifth on the first lap and then lap by lap was losing places only because I had no brakes and was having to brake so early for every corner, except the corner where I could run through in the speed and just get on the accelerator later. I knew there was a problem with the brakes, but I didn’t know what was causing it.

“I had a long pedal after the first lap so I knew there was air in the brakes lines. I also thought that maybe the vibrations where causing the brake pads to move away from the disc so I tried pumping the brake pads before I hit the brake zone. Then bringing the car back to parc-ferme I had a look to see what it was and noticed that the seal holding the hose onto the calliper had fallen off. Consequently leaking fluid onto my right tyres and losing brakes.”

Sunday was a better day for Tom as he was able to race at the front of the field and show his true pace.

He added: “In the Sunday race, after having everything checked over and fixing the break problems. My true pace was shown; having my lap time being almost equal to the front two meant that I could have been competing for the win. However though that makes it worse, I knew I had the pace to win, but with the unfortunate qualifying I didn’t have enough time to get through the pack and catch up.

“Starting mid pack allowed me to show my race craft not just in the dry but in mixing conditions, overtaking in different ways; around the outside, inside and a couple dummy moves. Also taking three in one corner allowed me to get past easily and quickly give me a better chance of catching up with the front runners and increasing the opportunity of a podium.”

The weekend unfortunately meant the Championship was clinched but second place is up for grabs and Tom is still hoping he can clinch that.

He said: “The championship has been clenched by Harry, but second is still up for grabs. There is still a slim chance that I could still do it, but having nearly lost 60 points in the last two rounds has had a large impact on my chances. However, though there is still 148 points up for grabs, so I need to win 3 out of the 4 to become second in the championship. I just need to have the car underneath me and I feel that I can achieve that – someone has to win them.

“I did have my birthday at the Rockingham race weekend, celebrating with the Team  and some other Toca people. I was still too distracted and annoyed with all of the day’s bad session to enjoy the evening.”

With the season drawing to a close Tom isn’t resting on his laurels and is already planning for next season and looking at his options.

He added: “For 2014 I have a couple options, but I don’t know what route to go down yet. A couple of years in single seaters – starting in BRDC F4. Or GT’s where I would race in British GT4 and also the Dubai 24hours.  For me and my career single seaters is probably the best option, however though it is very expensive.”