Rob Huff was able to find significant pace in the second part of qualifying for the seventh round of the 2017 TCR International Series at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben yesterday (Saturday, July 8th), despite having to battle through continuing issues with his Golf GTi TCR.
The Briton was plagued with problems in the first part of the session, but after Q2, he would eventually end up fourth fastest, after several changes were made to the Volkswagen.
“We got the car sorted for race 2 at Salzburg, but again, we’ve had some problems here,” said Huff to TouringCars.net post qualifying, and was slightly frustrated aside from the progress made.
“We changed spark plugs between Q1 and Q2, because we had a misfire, gearshifts as well, plus the electronics. It’s a little bit complicated to understand, because the AIM system we have on the car, is not the best. You can not find out what the problem is, but you know that there is one.”
The 37-year-old also had no contact with the pits, following on from a vibration from the front of the vehicle, but with four specific changes behind made, it showed a clear improvement for the Leopard Racing driver.
“Having no radio meant I had to go with the set of tyres I had on the car just in case, and it slows us down.
“But I think to be three or four tenths off pole is pretty good, considering we had the engine shutdown in Q1 and the vibration in Q2.
“I’m not one for making excuses, but it’s problems that we have been sifting through since the crash. Little bit frustrating, but I think we were P11 in Q1, improved four things and improved by seven tenths, so I’m pretty happy.”
Huff was also heaping praise on team mate Jaap van Lagen, who was drafted in last minute for this weekend to drive the third Golf. This was ollowing on from the Brit’s recommendation, when asked by Leopard on who should fill in for him at Monza earlier this year.
“I said to the team to give Jaap a call when they asked me for advice on who to replace me, as I worked with him at Lada.
“He’s a really good guy, and he’s fast, can jump into any car and go really quick. He did a good job in Monza, but didn’t have the best of luck, but he’s also done a good job here too.”