Charles Rainford was ‘ecstatic’ to qualify on the front row of the British Touring Car Championship grid in only his second-ever touring car meeting at Brands Hatch.
The West Surrey Racing driver was a meagre 0.021 seconds slower than more experienced stable-mate Jake Hill in Saturday’s qualifying session, as the BMW drivers locked out the front row of the grid.
For Rainford, who will be contesting only his fourth BTCC race on Sunday morning, it represents a standout performance, given his comparable lack of experience to his rivals.
“I’m ecstatic – it’s just incredible,” said Rainford to TouringCars.Net. “My focus is now fully on race day, because the points are [on Sunday].
“I’m incredibly excited – to go from where we were at Donington to now has been a massive step. There’s been some development in me as well as the team with the car, but I’m just incredibly happy, really.”
The 26-year-old put some of the gains in performance down to work on the weight distribution of the 3 Series undertaken by WSR in the two weeks since the season opening event at Donington Park.
“We’ve basically just made the car feel nice. It was really jacked up on the back – stiff and snappy on the rear, whereas now it’s kind of ‘sat on its hips’ a bit more in terms of ride heights and that kind of thing. All the weight is in the right place and we’re feeling good.
“This circuit suits us a lot better than Donington Park, where the car being a bit tricky to drive and the nature of the circuit meant that we just got monstered by the front-wheel drive cars.
“This weekend suits us a lot better. Sector two being resurfaced has also helped us massively.”
After contact in the races at Donington meant Rainford failed to finish in the points, he is hoping for a more consistent race day at Brands Hatch.
“I’m going to be learning the whole race – at Donington I was at completely the opposite end of the grid.
“Race day is going to be a big learning curve. As long as I don’t get punted off again and end up at the back I think we’re going to be in a good position all day. I’ve just got to keep scoring points.
“My eyes are firmly set on the Jack Sears and we’re in a good position for that, so that will be my number one goal and anything on top of that will be a bonus.”