SOMETIMES, winning is not the only thing that matters. Mat Jackson had plenty to celebrate yesterday as he claimed his first Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victory of the season in the final of three races at Croft Circuit, but even as he was crossing the line to take the chequered flag, his thoughts were elsewhere.

On Saturday, Jackson’s Team Shredded Wheat With Duo team-mate, Luke Davenport, was involved in a huge accident that left him in an induced coma in the intensive care department of James Cook Hospital.

Davenport’s injuries are not life-threatening, but include multiple chest injuries, lung damage, a broken right leg, broken pelvis, broken right arm and concussion. Two more drivers were airlifted to hospital after a series of incidents that featured ten cars and curtailed qualifying after just eight minutes of action, and thoughts at Croft yesterday were inevitably coloured by the events of the previous day.

In a sport where injuries are a constant risk and high-speed accidents are an unavoidable occupational hazard, the show must go on when things go wrong. But that doesn’t mean that drivers remain unaffected when their team-mates have their lives turned upside down.

“That was one for Lukey boy,” said Jackson, who repelled a determined final-lap charge from Ashley Sutton to claim victory by less than a second and haul himself into ninth position in the championship standings. “It was a massive win for the whole of the team.

“It’s great. The car has been quick all weekend and we’re pleased with that. Ash was coming up quick on that final lap and went for the outside, but fortunately the road runs out.”

Saturday’s bumps and slides occurred after Davenport’s Ford Focus dropped oil onto the circuit at the exit to Barcroft, making it all-but-impossible to remain on the track. Jeff Smith suffered multiple chest injuries, extensive shoulder injuries and concussion, while Aron Taylor-Smith suffered a fractured leg and concussion.

The injuries cast a considerable shadow over yesterday’s action, although the racing was no less competitive because of what had gone before.

The day’s biggest overall winner was Sutton, with the Subaru driver claiming a podium finish in all three races.

He was involved in a ding-dong battle with Colin Turkington in race one that lasted from the first corner to the chequered flag.

The pair held the top two positions throughout, and were rarely separated by more than two or three tenths of a second. Sutton held the advantage after making the most of his pole position, and while Turkington tried to nudge his BMW into the lead on a number of occasions, he was unable to squeeze ahead of the 23-year-old, who was able to claim his second BTCC win of the season.

The roles were reversed in race two, with Turkington claiming victory ahead of Sutton after another tight affair, and Sutton’s charge through the field in race three, which featured jaw-dropping overtaking moves on Jason Plato and Rob Austin, meant the youngster was able to climb to fourth position in the overall standings.

“It’s been a phenomenal weekend,” said Sutton, who drives for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing. “To be on the podium in all three races has been phenomenal, and just shows how well we’ve done.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect a win (in race one). My focus was to get away cleanly and we did. It was my best start to date – we needed it and it paid off. We hadn’t the grip level that Colin had on the softer tyre, but we were strong in the key areas to maintain the gap for the whole race.

“In the last race, I nearly got to him (Jackson). I tried to do something different (on the last lap), but he shut off the exit and I wasn’t able to get through. We had a blinding start, and I managed to pick off three on the first lap, and then it was just a case of cracking on after that after the safety car.”

Turkington lived up to his ‘King of Croft’ nickname with a first and second position in the opening two races, pulling level with Sutton on the pull away from the start in race two before edging ahead after the opening corner.

The Northern Irishman’s victory was a landmark one, as it was his 12th at Croft and made it 50 BTCC race victories for his West Surrey Racing Team after their link-up with BMW.

“It’s great to get another milestone for BMW,” said Turkington. “Wins aren’t easy to come by, so to notch up 50 between WSR and BMW is a huge achievement.

“I had to work hard for it, and the race was won off the start. He (Sutton) got a cracking launch and I was under pressure for the whole race. No wins are easy to come by, but this was a particularly tough one.”

Turkington finds himself in third position in the championship standings, a point behind second-placed Rob Collard, who finished third in race two, and 12 points adrift of championship leader Gordon Shedden, who was unable to claim a podium finish, but who will still have been relatively satisfied given the amount of ballast he was carrying.

Shedden’s Honda is not ideally suited to the demands of Croft, which tends to favour rear-wheel drive cars, so the fact he was able to finish in the top ten in all three races means he was still able to reflect on a fairly successful weekend.