LADA’s Rob Huff admits that making it into Q2 for the first time in 2014 is “a small victory” after the Brit defied the odds in World Touring Car Championship qualifying.
Although not yielding his best grid position of the year – Huff has benefitted from the exclusion of other drivers in previous qualifying sessions so far this year – the 2012 champion did make his first appearance in Q2 of the season.
“I am not exactly sure where that lap came from,” admitted Huff. “P12 is a lot more than I expected and it’s good for the team that we got into the session part of qualifying. It’s a small victory, but this season we have to take what we can get.”
Huff had previously had a big moment in free practice, describing it as “the spin of my life” after losing the back end of his LADA Granta on one of the Slovakiaring’s high-speed left-handers.
Undeterred, Huff continued to put in rapid qualifying laps, qualifying as the top LADA driver for the third consecutive event.
“That was a big lap,” said Huff of his qualifying lap. “I positioned myself for a good tow from the Hondas ahead of me and I caught the slipstream nicely, which gave me an extra six or seven kmh down the main straight, which made the world of difference.”
Huff’s LADA team-mate James Thompson qualified in 14th and Mikhail Kozlovskiy in 19th, with the latter failing to post a time due to a turbo problem on his car.
“I am not having much good luck at the moment,” admitted Kozlovskiy. “I think it is a problem with the turbo on my car. I was embarking on my flying lap and had a lot of white smoke, which is never a good sign.”