SEAT Cupra Double Delight for Jackson at Donington Park

31 July 2006

Mat Jackson (Whale Tankers/Jackson Motorsport) tightened his grip on the 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship with two wins out of two in Rounds 9 and 10 at Donington Park. He was pushed all the way in both races by Alan Blencowe (Triple R), while Ben Winrow (CMS Motorsport) moved into second overall in the Championship after two 3rd place finishes.

It was a clean start in race one and Blencowe, who started on pole position, held his own into the first corner at Redgate, but an error coming out of Old Hairpin allowed Jackson through. Winrow stayed out of trouble and the three leaders soon started to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.

Behind them, Neil Waterworth (Total Control Racing), Jonathan Fildes (Asgard Taverns/Total Control Racing), Fulvio Mussi (Total Control Racing), Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) and Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Edenbridge Racing) all vied for positions. But an early coming together between Breeze and Waterworth, then Fildes and Tim Bevan (Beaver Metals/WAAP Racing.com) forced Waterworth and Fildes to retire.

As the laps passed, it quickly became a two-horse race as Jackson and Blencowe's rivalry saw them pull clear of Winrow, who chose to stay out of trouble and preserve both points and tyres.

Jackson looked comfortable, but Blencowe never let him out of his sights, and saw an opportunity to overtake on lap 12. Coming into McLeans, Blencowe dived up the inside of Jackson, catching the rear of his Leon Cupra and pushing him out to the edge of the track to take the lead.

Blencowe's lead lasted for less than one lap, however, as Jackson quickly closed the short gap and, as the Triple R driver made a second error coming out of Old Hairpin, he went by him, then held off one final charge to take the chequered flag and extend his lead at the top of the Championship.

Breeze finished 4th, Adam 5th and Mussi took 6th. Bevan, whose car never really recovered from the early shunt, finished two laps behind in 10th.

It was a case of as you were in race two with the same three drivers taking the same three podium positions as Round 9.

Jackson started on pole position, alongside Mussi, with Blencowe and Winrow on the second row. The third row of the grid was empty as Waterworth hadn't managed to repair his car after the shunt in the first race and Fildes pulled in after the warm-up lap and started from the pits.

After a clean start, Jackson led into the first corner and never looked back. He quickly pulled away from Winrow who'd snatched 2nd, and by lap 5 he was nearly two seconds clear.

Blencowe mounted a charge, however, climbing from 4th to 2nd before starting to reel Jackson in. By lap 12, the gap was closed to 0.9 seconds and by the final lap it was just 0.4 seconds. But Blencowe never managed to get close enough to the Henley-in-Arden driver to mount a meaningful challenge.

While Blencowe showed real pace in Round 10, Mussi went backwards from his front row start. The Colchester driver was quickly passed by Winrow and Blencowe and then went wide at Coppice on lap 5 to let Breeze in and claim 4th place overall.

Harry Vaulkhard (42nd Street Realty/Triple R) finished 6th behind Mussi, Adam came in a creditable 7th after starting at the back of the grid and Bevan came home 8th.

Naturally, Jackson was delighted with his weekend's work. "It's been a fantastic weekend, we got maximum points and we've gone well to increase our Championship lead," said Mat. "Despite starting second in the first race, we knew we had the pace to win it. It was a bit of a crazy move from Alan late on, but I chased him down and he made a bit of a mess of things coming out of the Old Hairpin so I got the inside line in the run up to McLeans and regained the lead.

"In race two it was a case of get the lead straight away, get my head down, make no mistakes and just deliver qualifying lap speed. Alan was quicker towards the end of the race and I knew it was going to be close."

Blencowe also took a lot away from the weekend. "I've got two second places, which will help my Championship standings, but won't help me catch Mat," said Alan. "But the car was spot on, I couldn't ask for more and in race two I felt I passed Ben and Fulvio pretty easily.

"The first race was fantastic, Mat managed to get a run on me out of the Old Hairpin in the first lap, probably because he had some more heat in the tyres, but I chased him down, he turned in on me and I got in front, then made a mistake at the Old Hairpin and didn't get the run out I put a move across to block him but he had too much to get past me. In the second race, I think if I'd had a couple more laps I might well have caught him."

Two third places for Ben Winrow secured second overall in the Championship standings and the 21-year-old was pleased with his points tally after indifferent qualifying; "I was a bit disappointed in qualifying with two 4th places on the grid, but it's turned into two podiums which is good for the Championship and secures second place overall," said Ben.

See series calendar for SEAT Cupra Championship 2006

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