Rob Huff says he is ‘very confident’ of challenging for a tenth win on the streets of Macau this weekend, after the SLR driver ended Thursday with the best time in the FIA World Touring Car Cup practice sessions.
Huff put in a lap of 2 minutes 29.422 seconds in second practice to end up two and a halkf tenths ahead of the Lynk & Co of Andy Priaulx.
The Brit admits that due to the less aerodynamic shape of his Volkswagen Golf GTi he is losing pace in the ultra-fast first sector, but the nine-time Guia circuit winner claims the time back in the twisty second and third sectors of the lap.
Huff also paid thanks to his mechanic for helping him to find a setup that took him to the top of the timesheets, after he had earlier ended first practice in fourth.
“I’m happy for Max, my number one mechanic, I’m happy for the whole team,” said Huff. “We like it here, that’s no secret. We’re quite successful here, that’s no secret.
“But just getting a lap, getting no traffic… I got blocked on my first lap on new tyres and I set my time on the second [flying] lap when the tyres weren’t at their best. But I got blocked a little bit and my first sector wasn’t good at all.
“We really struggle in sector one with the aero and drag and we can see the Audis are 10 kilometres per hour quicker than us, the Lynk & Cos as well. It’s just a trait of the Golf but we more than make up for it in the next sectors.
“I made a mistake [at Mandarin] and lost three or four kilometres so it wasn’t a special Rob Huff lap, I’ll save that one for tomorrow.”
After proving his pace on Thursday, Huff is now confident heading into Friday’s two qualifying sessions.
“I’m very confident for tomorrow. I was really pleased where the car was, it was a big step up from this morning.
“The car felt good this morning; I always like to start with a confidence-inspiring car before we start putting the car on the edge, getting myself on the edge.
“The car was on the edge [in Free Practice 2], a bit more than I anticipated, I had a few moments, but we’ll be bang on tomorrow.”