Quotes from the third qualifying session of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season.
Dan Lloyd: “So overall I’m quite happy with 12th, but there was definitely some performance missing. We made a bit of a mistake with the balance of the car going into qualifying and we had too much understeer. So, we put on some new front tyres for the last run and we went much quicker which doesn’t normally happen so that just highlights that the car wasn’t balanced and in the window.
“Overall though, I’m really happy to get 12th but, there is definitely more pace in the car that we can unlock.
“We should be quite strong tomorrow now we know what to do with the balance of the car so I’m looking forward to a good day tomorrow and scoring some good points.”
Bobby Thompson: “I feel like today we had a car that was really strong. We showed really good pace in FP1 but in FP2 the car really came alive and we ended up in 3rd.
“Coming into qualifying I was feeling great but to be honest I underperformed in the session and lost some time finishing the lap at Church. I don’t think we had the pace for pole position today but a top-five was definitely possible.
“The car’s great but of course there are always bits you want to play around it to extract more from it. Being in a reflective mood, I need to do more myself as well. Get it right tomorrow and we could be on for a very strong day.”
Dan finishes as the top qualifier in 12th position. Photograph: Steve Akehurst
Dexter Patterson: “That was definitely a missed opportunity after having some serious pace in FP2 today. The car was feeling great and I felt comfortable to really push it to the limit.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t carry that over into qualifying and we struggled with the balance of the car and my runs weren’t optimised as the red flag came out on my push lap.
“We tried to go again after the session resumed but the tyre just wasn’t in the window. You really own get one maybe two laps to get a time on the hard tyre and we missed that today. Tomorrow is a new day and I’m happy that we will move up the field with our long-run pace.”
Jade Edwards: “A really tough day for me after having issues in every session. The pace seemed pretty good in FP2 and I was starting to feel like I could carry that momentum into qualifying – but sadly the session was hindered by some over heating issues which limited both laps and the power from the hybrid.
“I’ve got nothing to lose going into tomorrow so I’m looking to make places in all 3 races and end the day on a high!”
Dexter starts from 21st with Jade further back in 26th for the opening race. Photograph: Steve Akehurst
Jack Butel: “We started chipping away from where we were last year and I think we made good progress through the day and ended up at qualifying being in a really good position.
“After watching my quickest lap back, I ended up locking up and going wide at the fine chicane and that ruined my best lap of the session which is a shame. Despite that though we showed good pace and we were keeping up with the other boys that were around us which I have to take positivity from.
“Hopefully going into the race tomorrow we have some very good race pace and can fight our way into the points. I’m looking forward to it as always!”
Nic Hamilton: “Thruxton is 100% my bogey track, and it has been for years. Today I struggled with a lack of confidence in the car. We started with a car that felt like it was a little bit too loose but for qualifying we managed to sort it out. It got a little bit faster but still not where I would have liked to have been to really.
I feel like I have the potential to be a couple of places up, I just needed to be more confident with the car. Saying that though, we’re in the mix still and around the rest of my teammates, Jack, Jade and Dexter so that’s going to continue to push me forward tomorrow. We have three races so we will just develop the car over the day and hopefully come away with some decent results.”
Nic will be pushing hard to move up the field on race day. Photograph: Steve Akehurst