Mat Jackson scored his first win of 2012 at Donington Park.
Fresh from his first victory of the season last time out at Donington Park, Redstone Racing's Mat Jackson takes The Checkered Flag through a lap of Thruxton – one of the most challenging circuits on the BTCC calendar.
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Thruxton is an interesting circuit, one which definitely sorts the men from the boys. It's a very fast lap so in qualifying it's important to get a good clean exit through the final chicane so you're carrying a lot of speed over the start line.
The first corner, Allard, is not quite flat-out but almost. As it's such a quick corner you've got to be confident to get the most out of it, but it's important not to run out of road on the exit.
The long left hander leads into the Campbell, Cobb and Segrave complex. You need to be late on the brakes and get a good enrtry for a quick lap time, making sure you stay off the kerbs.
Then you reach the fast and flowing section of the circuit. The left hander round Goodwood is flat to the floor in qualifying, although at race pace you won't be completely flat-out. You need to slightly roll off the throttle into the right hander at Village and again take care not to run over the kerbs.
After that you reach Church, the most daunting part of the lap. You have to be totally committed to make the most of this corner – it's a case of putting the car in sixth gear, holding your breath and going for it! It's a real heart in your mouth moment; on a good lap you'll be exiting at a speed of around 110mph.
Once you've survived Church you climb upwards through Brooklands and Woodham Hill into Club, the final chicane. You need to carry good speed on your entry and use all the kerbs. Like I said at the start, a clean exit will give you the best possible chance of a competitive lap time.
Qualifying will be one to watch at Thruxton as it's a real venture into the unknown in terms of the pace of the NGTC versus S2000 cars. When it comes to racing however, expect to see quite a big divide between the front and the midfield – the grid will spread out very quickly.
