Quotes from the fifth qualifying session of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season.
Bobby Thompson: “A really exciting Saturday and we are back at the sharp end and where the chassis should be. We still have work to do as we don’t quite make that jump from practice to qualifying that the manufacturer teams have which is a shame but we have to be happy with how the chassis is performing.
“I think I had a bit of time in me as well which I’m going to look into overnight but like I said, I’m delighted to have my best-ever qualifying position and we will be trying to get on the podium in race 1 tomorrow!”
Dan Lloyd: “A tough day, I’m disappointed with 16th. It was very tight but I just didn’t do a good enough job to get into the top 10 shootout. I’m scratching my head a bit as to why we were off the pace as I thought we would have a good shot today.
“It’s going to be a hard day tomorrow as it’s so tight around here so, tonight I’ll be looking through the data to see what we can do to move back through the field tomorrow.”
Bobby acheived both his and the Cupra’s best qualifying position with 4th.
Dexter Patterson: “Not the day I wanted today as we line up 21st. Overall, the car felt pretty good but in qualifying I just didn’t get the track space to put in a clean lap.
“We will be fighting tomorrow to move up the field and into the points but we’re under no illusions that it is hard to pass here as the track is so narrow. I’m sure rain will also play its part I’m sure and that will spice things up!”
Jade Edwards: “We started on the back foot after a power steering issue in FP1 limited our running but the team did an amazing job to minimise the time lost and get us back on track.
“This morning we struggled with the balance of the car, but coming into qualifying we changed the set up to be closer to what Bobby had been running, and it transformed the Cupra. It’s a shame that we didn’t start the day in this position but we have a really good platform to attack from tomorrow.”
Jade qualified 23rd in a tight qualifying battle.
Jack Butel: “We had quite a few setup issues in FP1 but we made some changes for FP2, the car improved massively and we ended up in 7th which was mega and my best practice result!
“Qualifying didn’t go so well, we didn’t change the setup but ran different pressures and that, in hindsight, was the wrong thing to do as it massively affected the balance.
“So overall, we are on the backfoot but I’m still looking forward to tomorrow. The forecasted rain is going to throw a few curve balls I’m sure and we just need to make sure we use our tyre allocation wisely to maximise our day.”
Nic Hamilton: “Not a bad day but I’m slightly disappointed. I feel like we had more pace but I just wasn’t able to extract it on my lap. Overall, I think it’s a good, strong step forward with the car and I feel really comfortable. The car feels good but I just need to be more aggressive on my laps but it’s hard around here and it’s very close between us all.
“However, it is the fastest I’ve been around this track which is a positive to take and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be close with the guys and girls in front of us but let’s see how we get on.”
Jack finished FP2 in 7th but suffered issues in qualifying which hault his charge to a best every qualifying.