BMW Dealer Team UK
Mat Jackson has tipped his fellow BMW driver Steven Kane as one to watch this weekend as the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Rockingham for the second round of the year.
Jackson is currently the highest placed BMW driver in the championship standings on the back of his double podium during the season opener at
Brands Hatch, but Kane was also an impressive performer on his debut in the similar BMW 320si of Motorbase Performance.
The former Porsche Carrera Cup man diced for position with two-time champion
Matt Neal en-route to a points finish in the opening race and looked set to add to that tally in the second race before an incident with Mike Jordan saw him spin into the pitwall – with the resulting damage also leaving him as a spectator for the final race of the weekend.
However the pace shown by Kane on his debut was enough to convince Jackson that the Northern Irishman is worth keeping an eye on at the Northamptonshire circuit this weekend as he looks to add to his points tally.
"He [Kane] was always inside the top ten and got an eighth in race one," he said. "If he can do that again this weekend and gets lucky with the draw for the race three reversed grid then he could spring a surprise.
"Stephen Jelley could also go well in the RAC BMW – he was quick in the pre-season test at Rockingham but you never know whether the others showed their full hand that day. I'd say that Rockingham is a good circuit for the BMW but it's not the best."
Jackson added that he expected to see a strong showing from the diesel SEAT Leons of Darren Turner and
Jason Plato at a venue featuring one of the longest pit straights in the series, which could play to the strength of the turbo diesel engine.
"The SEAT was clearly the car to have at Brands through the speed traps and will take some stopping down the long pit straight at Rockingham," he said. "It's up to us to make up that ground on the infield section where I don't know if they will be quite so effective."
