Jackson clinches title after final race drama with rival

Dominik Jackson was crowned 2018 Radical Challenge Champion at Silverstone.
Dominik Jackson on his way to clinching the title at SilverstoneDominik Jackson on his way to clinching the title at Silverstone
Dominik Jackson on his way to clinching the title at Silverstone

His outstanding tally of seven wins and 14 podiums over 19 races secured the title by 53 points.

This season has seen one of the closest championship battles in series history, with only a handful of points separating RAW Motorsports team-mates Jackson and arch rival Steve Burgess.

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Heading in to the final showdown, just 76 points separated the pair so the title fight remained wide open.

Despite Burgess re-igniting his title hopes with his ninth win this term on Saturday morning, he was powerless to close the final gap due to no racing taking place at the circuit on Sunday.

Jackson led the way for race one with Burgess in hot pursuit, initially pulling clear of Jerôme de Sadeleer and Kristian Jeffrey. But, as the surface water began to disperse, de Sadeleer passed Burgess by lap four.

A three-car fight between Marcello Marateotto, Jeffrey and Brian Caudwell unfolded for fourth, the latter outwitting both drivers and Burgess to sit third. Meanwhile, Jackson continued to edge out a 5.6 second lead in a bid to negate his 20-second success penalty carried over from his last round Rockingham win.

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With de Sadeleer also serving an additional ten-seconds penalty, Burgess emerged from the pit lane in Jackson’s wheel tracks second overall on fresh slicks. His wet tyres destroyed, Jackson had no answer to his charging teammate, who moved into the lead come Luffield and never looked back.

Losing up to nine seconds a lap as the only front runner still on wets, Jackson became a sitting duck. Falling behind both de Sadeleer and Caudwell, the 2017 vice-champion was pipped to fourth on the road by Jeffrey at the line.

With Caudwell handed a post-race 60-seconds penalty in lieu of a stop/go infringement, Jackson was promoted to fourth. That left Spencer Bourne to deliver one of his best drives to fifth ahead of Brian Murphy, who charged through to sixth from 12th place following the pit stops.

Jackson said: “Consistency has been key for me this year. It’s pretty crazy to be within ten points of each other all season long, especially when there’s so many races.

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“I’ve had no mechanical issues and I haven’t binned it myself either. It’s taken me longer to learn the car but it’s all come together now.”

Burgess added: “It would have been great to end it on a high but it wasn’t to be. The team has been great and done a great job all year.”