Team BMR Restart driver Alain Menu was pleased with his sixth place in qualifying for round 25 of the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone, and suggested he might be able to take the fight to the MGs in tomorrow’s three races.
The Swiss and his teammates came into the weekend as one of the more fancied outfits to do well at the Northamptonshire circuit, given the strength of their Volkswagen CCs in a straight line – a necessary attribute for a good lap time.
A fifth place in the weekend’s first practice session set the tone of things to come, as Menu went on to record the sixth fastest time in qualifying – just 0.234s away from Jason Plato’s pole time – with his teammate Aron Smith one place ahead of him.
And speaking to TouringCars.Net after the session, the former double-champion expressed his pleasure at securing a row three starting spot for round 25 of the championship, given that he was not completely happy with his car.
“It was good,” declared Menu. “I am pleased. It was not easy, the car was not quite where I wanted it to be handling wise so to end up p6 is great, especially with Aron in p5.
“I was hoping before qualifying to be in the top five so it’s a very good result.”
The 51-year-old was uncertain of how well his team would be able to iron out his issues in time for the first race, but hinted that he felt he could race with the pace-setting MGs if he can manage his tyre degradation.
“Its difficult because we are playing catch up already this year. I’ve been saying it all the time, [and] it’s true.
“But the races are different. We will have to nurse the front tyres on that track, because they go away very quickly. Everybody will, but usually – I think – we have been better than the MGs on tyre degradation, so who knows?
“I just want three good races, three good finishes and with one podium, I will be happy. You always think…we are all doing it to win aren’t we? If it says in the stars that I am going to win this year then I will, but we will see.”