Team Aon took their strongest qualifying result of the season as they locked out the front row of the grid. However hours later the joy was turned down a notch when TOCA announced that both Focus’ must run with a smaller 35mm turbo inlet restrictor for tomorrow’s races.
Speaking about the news, team principal Mike Earle admitted that he understood the decision made by the organisers. “Tonight’s regulation amendment, will obviously severely hamper our two cars progress. However, given the disparity between our qualifying performance today and the rest of the field and bearing in mind the fact that we are still on a learning curve with the Calor powered car, I fully understand TOCA’s view point.
“We’ll take it on the chin and continue to do the best job we can and should these new restrictions impede our cars performance as severely as we believe they will, then hopefully TOCA will look at reversing some of their decisions.”
It was poleman Tom Onslow-Cole’s second pole position of the season and the team’s fifth. So far this season the team have struggled to convert their qualifying superiority into consistent challenges for victory – with only three wins so far despite all of the front-row starts.
First practice saw mixed fortunes for the team – Tom Chilton was the fastest driver on a damp circuit but Tom Onslow-Cole could only manage eighth fastest as he worked on the set-up of the car. It was a close session, with an amazing 17 cars covered by less than a second!
The second practice session was just before lunch and this time both drivers were right up there – Onslow-Cole found his form and hit the top of the timesheets only to be pipped towards the end of the practice by Andrew Jordan. Nevertheless the team could be confident with 2nd and 4th prior to qualifying.
In fact qualifying would turn out to be much easier for the team – Chilton set the pace on his first flying lap only to be beaten by Onslow-Cole on his first lap moments later. Both drivers had driven with such splintering speed on their opening laps that they would not be bettered for the rest of the session.
Onslow-Cole admits that compared to his team-mate, qualifying hasn’t been one of his strongest points so far in 2010. “I’ve struggled a little in qualifying so far this year, other than at Oulton Park when we managed to convert pole into a Race One win,” said Onslow-Cole. “Other than there we’ve made it hard for ourselves, so to be starting from the front for this one is fantastic! It’s a great result for the team, our first ever one-two and it goes to show that we’re now reaping the rewards from the teams hard work during the summer break.”
Tom Chilton added: “The circuit was definitely quickest in the first five minutes of the session, after that it seemed to get a little greasier. Tom and I started our first runs together and I gave him a bit of tow down the straight. I went a little bit sideways through Copse on my first run and the times are so close that that was enough. But it’s great for Team Aon; our first ever quali one-two!”
Mike Earle, the team principal, was happy with his driver’s performances but insists that is is crucial not to get carried away and focus on the races tomorrow. “Our first one-two, but we aren’t getting carried away, the Chevrolet’s are right behind and they have a great race car, so it’s not a foregone conclusion,” he said. “We benefited from getting out very early in the session when the track was at its optimum and the drivers worked together slipstreaming each other. Later in the session we couldn’t replicate our early pace and so it’s great the guys got in those quick laps right at the start.”