Serbian racer Dušan Borković is targeting consistent top ten finishes in the TCR International Series at Spa-Francorchamps, as he looks to make up for lost ground at the previous meeting.
Having scored a sixth and third in the season opener in Bahrain, Borković endured a nightmare weekend in Portugal last time out, where a shunt in qualifying prohibited progress up the order.
With no points on the board from Estoril, Borković admits that he is seeking to make amends by coming to Spa with a more conservative attitude, with the B3 Racing driver targeting top ten finishes instead of going flat-out for pole position.
“I will feel comfortable if I am in the first ten, so I will not push like in Bahrain to be P2, or P1 in Estoril, and then crash,” said Borković to TouringCars.Net. “My plan is just to be there, I know that I can be there in the first ten drivers easily, so if I get to Q2 I will see if I can get to the front in two laps, or not.
“Maybe it’s better to do something like James Nash did in Estoril; to be P9 in qualifying and improve a few positions [in race one] and then start at the front in race two. When you are collecting the points this is important. In Estoril I was P20 and you cannot do anything from P20, because the level of the drivers is really good.”
Borković is also hoping for less contact in the Spa races, having been hit numerous times in the season opener in Bahrain and then being left to play catch-up following his Estoril qualifying crash.
“I don’t want to be rude, but I think that in Bahrain I could have won. I had the pace and I was hit in the race. In WTCC you never have that, but this contact [in Bahrain] was more like the BTCC!
“I had the pace to be first, so I think that if I had had a good race I could have won there. But the season is long. Estoril was killing me – I lost so many points down there, so now my first aim is to collect the points – P5, P4, P5 – I need the points.
Borković improved progressively during Thursday’s free practice session at the Belgian circuit, ending first practice in sixth before going third in second practice. The Serb added that those times were achieved without a tow from his team-mates, and that he has no plans to take a tow in qualifying unlike some of the other teams in the TCR pitlane.
“We don’t have that plan [to tow], because I am really not confident doing that,” added Borković. “I prefer to have my two laps and be slower – we never tried this.
“I don’t like when I have somebody in front of me, because I am faster on the straight but then I lose my way of driving in the corners. I was always faster when I was alone.”