Brands Hatch finale qualifying report

Airwaves BMW’s Mat Jackson fished the season’s last Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying session in 6th place on Brands Hatch’s GP circuit, affording the Warwickshireman every chance of clinching his first Independent Drivers championship. Steven Kane, who will start in 14th, sits just 18 points behind Tom Onslow-Cole who currently leads the Independent Drivers Standings.

Positively the two Independent Championship challenging Airwaves BMW drivers performed strongly in Free Practice 1 and 2, with Kane and Jackson finishing the session in 4th and 5th and 4th and 9th respectively. Disappointingly Kane, chasing a pole made some radical adjustments to his chassis right before qualifying that didn’t pay off. Despite this he is confident that he has the pace as his earlier displays proved to make an impact on the podium.

Jackson on the other hand continued to impress, storming home in 6th and comfortably the quickest BMW out on track. Jackson and Kane now know exactly what they need to do and that’s close the gap on the Independent Drivers leader Onslow-Cole.

Pertinently Jackson will start ahead of the Ford in the day’s first race after finishing the session with a best lap of 48.885, while Kane who ended the session in 14th (49.249) will start four places behind his archrival and the man who stands very firmly in the way of his title challenge. If Kane wants to win then he must win this contest.

BTCC and Airwaves BMW newcomer Ben Collins, formerly ‘The Stig’, cemented the cloud of mystery that surrounds the Bristol-born driver. His Airwaves BMW suffered a reoccurring gearbox cooling issue, a hurdle that the team and gearbox suppliers, try as they might, could not overcome.

Team Principle David Bartrum explained “ I’m gutted for Ben as the gearbox issue plagued us from the first moment today and we couldn’t get round it, even after rebuilding the box on several occasions. To make it right Ben’s team of mechanics will be working through the night to effectively supply and fit a brand new gearbox before tomorrow’s first race, which we hope will be the end of the problem.” At present we just don’t know what kind of pace Collins is capable of, but the Brands Hatch finale tomorrow presents a perfect opportunity on a very public stage, to reverse today’s bad fortunes.

With a Chevy and Honda filled front two rows, three out of the top four drivers in the day’s first race (Plato, Neal and Shedden) will be fighting to win BTCC’s top honour, and we can be sure they will take no prisoners and numerous wing-mirrors in their quest for the Drivers Championship. What they cannot underestimate however is the desire that all three Airwaves BMW drivers will show.

Ultimately Kane and Jackson are each fighting for the Independent title, and sadly only one can be victorious, however both must play a significant role if the team are to clinch their first independent Teams championship. The climax we’ve all been waiting for has arrived and quite literally anyone could win it.