Cam Jackson could not have gone any closer to topping the Autosport National Driver Rankings in 2020. He headed into the final event of the club season with a two-win advantage over rival Gary Prebble. But Prebble triumphed in both Hot Hatch races at the 750 Motor Club finale, bringing the duo level on 15 victories and Prebble top spot because the average grid size for his wins was just 0.6 cars greater than Jackson’s.
“It was a little bit frustrating to lose it at the last race of the year!” reflects Jackson. “In 2020 I also lost out by one point in Historic Formula Ford to Pierre Livingston so it was a double kick in the teeth.”
But, in 2021, he was able to reverse both of those disappointments. This time he headed Autosport’s winners’ table throughout the season and landed a third Historic FF1600 crown by just eight points. Not bad considering Jackson had not even planned a full campaign last year.
“When you say you’re not going to do a [full] season, you shouldn’t do the first race!” he laughs. “I did the first round at Snetterton, which I don’t think I planned to do, and it went really well and I won all five races [two Historic FF1600, two Classic FF1600 and a Formula Junior]! That was it then, I was determined to do as many races as I could – once you get going, and get some wins, you can’t help yourself!”
Part of the reason why Jackson decided to continue racing in Historic FF1600 was the quality of his rivals. He was one of five drivers, alongside eventual runner-up Tom McArthur, Horatio Fitz-Simon, Linton Stutely and Samuel Harrison, that were involved in some frenetic fights for wins.
“It was probably the most competitive season in the last couple – and that was brilliant,” says Jackson.
Despite the strength of his opposition, the Winkelmann WDF2 driver quickly notched up the wins in his Neil Fowler-run machine until he missed the Oulton Park and Mallory Park events towards the end of the season, which fell during a period when he moved house. He was back for the Silverstone finale and admits he “just nicked” the championship, despite being excluded from a win for overtaking under yellow flags.
And yet, Jackson was concerned about history repeating itself. Legends racer Miles Rudman was rapidly homing in on Jackson’s tally of 17 wins – aided by an incredible weekend at Donington Park when he won five of the six Legends contests – and Jackson therefore decided to enter the end-of-season Walter Hayes Trophy event in a Van Diemen RF90.
The machine slotted into the Janet Cesar class for 1982-92 Formula Fords and Jackson therefore had five chances of boosting his victory total. To add to the tension, Rudman was in action at Brands Hatch on that same November weekend. While Rudman was victorious in one of the Legends thrashes, a vital class win in the second Hayes heat ensured that Jackson ended the year on top of the rankings.
Jackson admits he is “glad” he opted to enter the event, despite it being a far from straightforward weekend as he battled engine troubles and was taken out of contention in the dedicated Janet Cesar heat.
"We were watching what Rudman was doing at Brands Hatch and the guys were on the pitwall all the time watching the live timing – that was a fun feature at the end of the season" Cam Jackson
“It was frustrating because you’re driving a car that wasn’t mine and had some issues with straightline speed and getting the engine to perform,” he recalls. “We had to do an engine change overnight on Friday.
“We were watching what Rudman was doing at Brands Hatch and the guys were on the pitwall all the time watching the live timing – that was a fun feature at the end of the season. But I got that win that made the difference.
“It’s nice to have it [first place in the rankings] and I think it’s really good for national motorsport and club racing to have this narrative to follow through the year.”
Of Jackson’s 18 triumphs, there is no hesitation when asked which was his favourite – a Formula Junior win at the Silverstone Classic gets the nod.
“It’s a big meeting and one that had always got away – I had issues and sometimes I couldn’t enter because the car wasn’t ready,” he explains.
“I was racing against Richard Bradley and he’s a fantastic driver – racing current prototypes and doing all sorts of different stuff. To test myself against someone of his calibre was great and we were in exactly the same car [Brabham BT2s] so to win the second race in the wet was brilliant.”
As for his plans this year, Jackson intends to stick to his word this time around and not contest a full Historic FF1600 campaign, admitting: “When you get into championship situations, tensions can flair up and it all gets a bit serious.
“The Winkelmann is quite tired after doing so much!” he continues. “It was often doing two qualifying sessions and four races a weekend [with both Historic and Classic FF1600] and it needs a bit of TLC.”
Instead, Jackson wants to race in a variety of machinery this season, including more outings in the Lenham P70 he shared with his father Simon in selected Guards Trophy appearances last year.
“I enjoy the variety of driving different cars and that’s what it’s all about for me,” he adds. “I will definitely be doing some Formula Ford and some Guards Trophy with the Lenham.”
But whatever Jackson ends up racing during 2022, you can expect this star of the historic scene to likely be fighting towards the front and picking up more wins once again.
How the battle for best-of-the-rest was decided
Autosport revived the rankings for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, so last year was the first time they had been run over a full campaign for many years. The concept behind the winners’ table is simple: every win is treated equally, whether that is success in the Citroen C1 24 hours or in the Ferrari Challenge UK. And class wins – where the divisions are based on differing car characteristics rather than driver ability – also count to the total.
Despite the greater number of meetings held in 2021, it did not stop some of the key places being decided following the final two events of the season. Veteran club racer Rod Birley snatched third spot after the traditional Mallory Park Plum Pudding curtain-closer on Boxing Day. Piloting his trusty Ford Escort WRC, he was victorious in both of the Saloon Car contests, taking his final figure to 16 wins, meaning he pipped Scott Parkin to third spot.
Birley and Parkin's late improvements meant Irish Stryker ace Michael Cullen, who was in third when Autosport last ran an update in the magazine at the start of November, fell to fifth in the final table
Parkin himself had risen to third following the penultimate circuit racing event of the year: a MotorSport Vision Racing fixture at Brands in mid-November. Parkin won both the Trackday Championship and Trackday Trophy encounters in his VW Golf to notch up 15 successes, but this did not prove enough to keep Birley at bay.
Their late improvements meant Irish Stryker ace Michael Cullen, who was in third when Autosport last ran an update in the magazine at the start of November, fell to fifth in the final table. He also enjoyed 15 wins across the year, one more than sixth-placed Junior Saloon Car dominator Charlie Hand.
While Jackson headed the leaderboard from the very first table being produced two months into the season at the end of May, a variety of different drivers held second place. Alongside Parkin and Cullen, also enjoying stints as Jackson’s closest challenger were BMW E36 M3 racer Dave Griffin (who fell to 27th place in the final rankings) and Civic Cup champion Alistair Camp (12th). But, ultimately, none of them were able to take quite enough wins to deny Jackson top spot.
This article first appeared in this week's issue of Autosport magazine, unpacking the new-for-2022 Formula 1 rules. You can also find an interview with newly-retired 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and a 17-page preview to the World Rally Championship season. See more here.
