Monsoon-like track conditions thwarted WSR’s hopes on the wettest British Touring Car Championship qualifying day for a decade at Thruxton on Saturday.
Drivers’ Champion Jake Hill – a double-winner at the Hampshire Speedbowl a year ago – put his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW 330i M Sport on the fourth row as the BTCC’s fastest racetrack resembled a raging river during the all-important session.
This was deeply unfortunate as the Kent racer, plus LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR drivers Aiden Moffat and Charles Rainford had all set top-three times across a pair of practice sessions that had featured damp, but driveable conditions.
“We had very good pace in both damp practice sessions so we were pretty confident of being on the front two rows,” commented Team Principal Dick Bennetts. “Unfortunately, we had heavy rain that turned qualifying into a total lottery and made track conditions very dangerous.
“We’ve had several stoppages and one accident that driver was very lucky to walk away from. I think we should have delayed the session until conditions improved. We’re expecting dry weather tomorrow though and we’ll do what we can to make up places through the three races.”
The weather was at its worst for the second group of the ‘Q1’ section of the three-stage qualifying format; both Jake and Charles needing ultra-fast final laps to secure their spots in Q2.
With water pooling in certain areas and track conditions varying from minute to minute, Jake – the first driver to finish his Q2 laps – was unable to fight back against other drivers on the other side of the track, who benefitted from slight improvements in grip.
Jake, who was also entitled to less of the series’ mandatory boost than all but two of his rivals, will start Sunday’s opening race from eighth place with Charles – who suffered an off-track excursion while looking set to improve his marker on his final lap – 11th.
Charles’ LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR team-mate, Aiden Moffat, who was second-fastest in FP1, starts 20th as he – like Jake – was placed in Group 2 of Q1 and suffered the worst of the conditions.
Jack Sears Trophy points leader Daryl DeLeon was desperately unlucky not to join his stablemates Jake and Charles in Q2; the Cambridge racer pushed out of the crucial top-six positions by just six hundredths of a second after the chequered flag.
The first of Sunday’s three races is due to start at 1145.
Comments