Mat Jackson admitted that he found it “easy to control” the pace up front after winning the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Donington Park.
The Motorbase Performance driver sliced between the Triple Eight MGs in a lightning start from third on the grid to win the opening 17-lap race at the Leicester circuit, never looking back as he claimed his first win of the season.
Jackson admitted afterwards that he expected more pressure from Josh Cook and pole-sitter Ashley Sutton in the race, Cook finishing just under two seconds adrift.
“It’s great to come away with a result like that”, Jackson told The Checkered Flag afterwards.
“It was a fairly easy race to control. He had good pace in the car and I thought the MGs were going to give us a hard fight early on.
“They were both all over the back of me for the first few laps, but once the car came on I could start to stretch my legs. A good result, but now can we do it with an extra 75 kilos?”
The start was a critical factor in Jackson’s victory, Jackson adding: “It was a good start. Ash [Sutton] just fluffed it and Josh [Cook] was coming across, so luckily we got away with it in the middle.”
The second race sees the Ford Focus ST driver start from pole position, albeit carrying 75kg of success ballast in the car for the next encounter.
“Obviously it’s a big amount of weight to throw around, so we’ll make a few changes. Donington is probably the least of the circuits that you’s want to carry 75kg, but that’s the price you pay for winning!”