Sam Tordoff admits he is unsure of where to expect his BMW 125i M-Sport to place in this afternoons qualifying session for the triple header of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Donington Park this weekend.
Tordoff, a four-time race winner in the UK’s most popular tin-top series, finished the second free practice session in second with a fastest lap time of 1:10.327, a mere 0.198 seconds slower than the MG of Josh Cook, who topped the timesheets in both free practice sessions.
The Leeds-based racer believes it will prove ultimately difficult to predict where he and West Surrey Racing stand based on the practice results, especially after what he describes as a difficult days work.
“It was OK, we just ran through our program and did our thing, put some tyres on at the end but to be honest with you it’s been a difficult day for us. It’s been very greasy and the track is very low grip – we struggled to get any heat in the tyres and I think you could see that from the times,” he explained.
He also pointed to the unpredictable nature of the track, with temperatures fluctuating across today by virtue of the weather conditions.
“We were about a second off where we were last year, which goes to show that the track just isn’t there yet. It’s difficult today with the amount of people that have been going off through the gravel and the grass,”
“The weather has been better, and was getting better through that session – the track was getting a bit warmer. I think it’ll come to us in qualifying but how quick it will be is anyone’s guess.”
He also believes that, with WSR making a raft of engine developments over the off-season, it is even harder for them to make an accurate prediction of how the car will respond, or indeed how it will run at all.
“I’m not to sure where we’ll be. With the developments we’ve done over the winter, this will be the first real gauge of where we’re at. Given the nature of Brands Hatch, we didn’t really know the gains we’ve made. After qualifying we’ll know where we’re at.”
Qualifying gets underway at 15:35, with live text commentary available via TouringCars.net