MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square enjoyed a productive Saturday at Oulton Park as the team returned from the summer break and took to the track in the Cheshire countryside.
Mixed and changeable weather conditions greeted the team upon arrival in the morning, with lap times continuing to tumble throughout the day as the weather cleared and the track surface began to dry out.
A relatively uneventful Free Practice session kicked off the weekend’s track action with tricky track conditions providing little opportunity for any meaningful running. By the session’s end, the team had racked up a total of 25 laps with the #24 Ford Focus ST of Jake Hill ranking ninth fastest on the timesheets and the sister #48 Ford Focus ST of Ollie Jackson beginning his day in P16.
Track conditions began to vary throughout the second Free Practice session as times began to tumble from mid-1m30 lap times in FP1 to mid-1m20s by the end of the second session. A flurry of quick laps at the end of the session meant Jake rounded out the morning’s running in P13 with Ollie in P21.
Attention soon switched to the all-important Qualifying session, where a strong first half of the session left Jake and Ollie in P9 and P11 respectively. With close margins a feature of the BTCC, every thousandth of a second mattered as the top 20 were split by less than eight-tenths of a second. Following the final runs, Jake qualified in an excellent seventh place to line up as the first ballast-bearing car on the grid whilst Ollie will start tomorrow’s first race from P17.
Ollie Jackson - Qualified P7 - #48 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“Frustrating is the word of the day. It is so close out there - another tenth would have put us in the mix for the top ten which we’d have been really happy with but we were just lacking that bit of magic. It’s difficult to pass around here but if I can get some good starts, which I have so far this year, then we can focus on making some progress on race day.”
Jake Hill - Qualified P8 - #24 MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“I’m really happy with today - we learnt a lot from the Oulton Park test a few weeks ago and it has been put into practice today. We’re the first car with weight so I am chuffed to bits with that as qualifying is such a big thing here. Tomorrow is going to be about keeping my head down and focusing on my job. If I can grab a couple of places each race, then we’re going to be in a good position.”
Mark Blundell - Sporting Director, MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square:
“It’s been another solid day at the office for the team who have worked very hard today. For Jake to be the top qualifier out of the championship-leaders is a nice boost and he can focus on a strong points haul tomorrow. I know Ollie wanted more but the margins are so fine, and he is better qualified than anyone to get off the line excellently once again and start to reclaim some places.”
