Speedworks Toyota team boss Christian Dick believes that good fortune has eluded them too often during the 2013 season, despite Ollie Jackson securing another trio of points finishes last time out at Knockhill.
Following two 15th place finishes, the 29-year-old’s 11th place in the third race at Fife marked a strong result on Jackson’s 50th BTCC race, meaning his combined points total from Snetterton and Knockhill in fact overturns the entire tally from the first half of his maiden season with Speedworks.
On a competitive weekend, Jackson said: “This weekend has probably provided my highest tally of the season. All things considered, I’m happy with that.”
Team-mate Dave Newsham alternatively had a difficult weekend in Scotland meanwhile which started with a suspension failure in practice, a 10th place in the second race of the weekend proving to be the highlight despite being hampered also by a gearbox problem.
“That was the hardest race of my life,” he said. “I had to ram the gears home, just about wrecking my arm.”
Team principal Dick praised the performance of Jackson on a weekend that backed up the former AmDTuning.com driver Jackson’s Snetterton performance, saying that the Redditch-based man is now in a much happier place heading into the last three meetings of his first year driving NGTC machinery.
“It’s a second successive race weekend that Ollie has scored solid points”, Dick said. “He’s in a much happier place as a result, which will hopefully be a platform for him to make it into the top 10 in the future.
“Dave had one of those meetings where if something could go wrong, then it did”, added Dick, who felt that his team have struggled to find a break this season.
“He deserves credit for never once letting his head drop, but by the time of his retirement in race three it was a case of laughing rather than breaking into tears. He couldn’t have tried any harder. Hopefully his run of bad luck will change, because we know the pace is in the car for results to be better.
“It doesn’t feel like we’ve had much fortune this season, but we’ll continue working with the same enthusiasm we always have done.”
