Jackson's warning for team
Ahead of this weekend's BTCC round at Snetterton, Mat Jackson has said Airwaves Racing must up their development pace.
Last Updated: 05/08/11 1:44pm
Mat Jackson has warned his Airwaves Racing team that they must match the development pace of their British Touring Car Championship rivals if they are to stand any chance winning the title.
Jackson currently stands second in the championship ahead of this weekend's races at Snetterton, nine points adrift of factory Honda driver Matt Neal with five rounds remaining.
Both the Airwaves team and Jackson are currently leading their respective independent championships, but the 30-year-old admits success in the outright standings has to be his priority.
Certainly the words of Neal last week should have been of encouragement to Jackson. The two-time champion, who has won five races this season, admitted that, in development terms, his Honda is a "wrung sponge, there's no more to come out of it".
But despite Neal's pessimism, Jackson is expecting improvements from Honda as the series returns from its seven-week summer break.
"The Honda boys have been saying there's nothing left to come from their Civic but I don't believe them for a minute," Jackson told btcc.net.
Performance
"They will surely have found a bit more performance during the break and so will the others so it's important we don't stand still.
"Make no mistake, this is the time of the season when the top teams and drivers really crank it up and we need to make sure we've got the legs to go with them."
This weekend's sixth round of the season will be first time the BTCC has visited Snetterton's new '300' circuit, which is considerably longer than its predecessor.
The previous lay-out comprised just 1.95 miles, but the new track runs to 2.99 miles and features five extra corners and a new infield section.
And Jackson is ready for the challenge ahead, saying: "I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the new infield section at Snetterton and the really long, fast Coram bend."
