Mat Jackson told TCF that he feels relaxed about his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title push, saying the pressure at Silverstone lies on Sam Tordoff‘s shoulders.
Jackson sits 28 points adrift of the West Surrey Racing driver in fourth overall, with 134 still on the table heading to the penultimate meeting of the season.
Undeterred by the changeable weather conditions in first practice in Northamptonshire, Jackson said that the penultimate meeting of the season would be about avoiding any incidents.
“I can’t look at it any different to how the others will”, Jackson told The Checkered Flag of the current championships situation. “We’ve got to go out and do exactly what we’ve done to get us this far.
“I think Silverstone has always been good to us as a team, good to me as a driver and hopefully this weekend we can reign Sam in.
Photo: BTCC Media
“Obviously, a lot of it will depend on what goes on with the other guys around me in the championship fight. We need them to have a bit of bad luck to get us back in there.”
The 1.64-mile national circuit is one that Jackson has clinched six BTCC victories around during his career, including three in the NGTC-specification Ford Focus ST first introduced in 2012.
“It’s a place that love and I’ve always gone well in other series around here”, added Jackson on Silverstone.
“We go into qualifying with the fourth-highest success ballast and round here I think ballast will be critical. You need a good qualifying here because the racing could be static when this close.”
Sitting fourth in the championship, the 2008 runner-up feels relaxed about the ongoing title fight with six races remaining, saying pressure lies on the championship leader’s shoulders.
“We are [relaxed]”, Jackson said, “but it is what it is. All I can do is do the best that I can do and, in the end, the pressure is actually all on Sam.”
