- Tom has been replaced by returnee Mike Bushell due to COVID-19 travel complications
- It was a wet qualifying session after a downpour just before the qualifying session
- In the mornings dry practice sessions Mike finished inside the top 10 with Jack in P11
- Jack finished the session as the lead car in P18 (Carl – P19, Mike – P20, Nic – P24)
Jack: “Pardon the pun but today was a day that started brightly but turned into a damped affair by the result in qualifying. We had a great base setup in the dry and were able to push the car throughout the lap.
“We made a number of changes between FP1 and FP2 which delayed our participation but overall, it was a promising development for the car.
“The weather suddenly deteriorated which went against all of the weather predictions and the track turned into more of a lake so keeping off the standing water was an absolute must. A couple of red flags upset our run plan and when the track was at its optimal my tyres were unfortunately passed their best. That’s the lottery of a wet but drying qualifying session, some you win and some you lose.
“We go into tomorrow with a competitive car in the dry so I’m looking forwards towards the points.”
Mike: “Firstly, it’s good to be back with the team I was originally due to complete the 2020 season with, they are a great bunch and have a real passion for the BTCC and Motorsport in general.
I’m carrying the 45kg replacement driver weight again which is a shame, but rules are rules and in terms of one lap pace it hasn’t really hindered me to much today.
“I went off the road a couple of times in free practice but ultimately found good lap time in the VW CC and I ended up P8 after the second free practice session which I was chuffed with.
“To be honest I was a bit gutted when the rain shower came as I was really building confidence in the car and felt in a good place for qualifying. We made some changes to the car to cater for the wet conditions but unfortunately before I could put on new wets and really push for a decent lap time I put a wheel on the grass at Sunny Out and slid into the wall. I managed to recover back to the pits but with the rear brake light missing and some bumper damage it was deemed unsafe for me to get back out on circuit.
“Overall a disappointing day results wise but I was happy with the car before the wet weather and looking at tomorrows forecast I’m confident that I can use the cars dry pace to make some places and get my first points of the season!”