WSR’s Sam Tordoff was left disappointed after qualifying for the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park after losing out due to the conditions and ending up down in 21st.
Tordoff was one of the biggest losers in the eventful session, having been mixing it at the top of the times throughout the first 25 minutes of the wet and changeable session.
However when the session was red-flagged with a couple of minutes left, and the clock pushed back to five minutes, Tordoff was one of only a few drivers unable to improve his time before the final red-flag stoppage.
“We were just unlucky, really,” said a disappointed Tordoff. “We were P2 in the wet for most of the session, and then we should have been straight back up there in the dry. We put the slicks on at the end for the final five minutes and I’d just got them warmed up and it went red again. It’s just circumstantial.
“In three laps in FP2 we went P2, so we’re quick in the dry and we’re quick in the wet, but we just unfortunately got robbed of showing our card.
“What else can I do? We are quick. We were P2 in FP2, and we were P2 for most of that session in the wet until it dried out. If rear-wheel drive around here in the wet can be P2 then that shows we have genuine pace.”
Despite the disappointment, Tordoff wasn’t too disappointed with the outcome of qualifying, insisting that he can bounce back on race day.
“The car is quick, so we can come forward tomorrow – no problem about that. Yes, I’m gutted that we’re P21 because that’s nowhere near where we should be – we should be on the front row – but it is what it is.
“I can get a good start and I can be in the top fifteen after the end of the first lap, and then we’re away. We’ve got good pace, the engine’s good and we can pass the guys in front.“I think we can [get podiums]. OK, race one is going to be out of the question, but race one is all about finishing as high as we can and then maximising it in races two and three.”
Tordoff also added that, having been on the podium and won at the circuit in 2014 in his MG days, he was looking forward to racing around the track on Sunday.
“We qualified on the front row and won races here in the MG, so I like this circuit. We’re quick, but we just got caught out by the circumstances here.”