Derek Palmer Jr believes “it’s going to come down to tyre management” in today’s half-hour TCR UK races at a sunny Castle Combe.
The DPE Motorsport racer will start from the back of the grid in race one at 12:55, by virtue of an engine change after a difficult previous meeting at Brands Hatch.
He told TouringCars.Net he was attempting to score reverse-grid pole in qualifying as he knew he would be starting at the back for race one, but will instead line up third for the second race.
“Yesterday was a bit weird because we were trying to race for tenth place,” said Palmer.
“Because we knew we were at the back of the grid so we had about another half second in the car, but we were sort of lifting it off in the final corner to try and work out with the guys on the radio where we’re at!
“So we didn’t get it perfect, so we went out and put a banker in and then I knew I had to go and put in a quicker time to beat it. So we’ve ended up third for race two which is what we were planning on.”
Palmer believes the tyre degradation will be high at a hot Castle Combe – particularly on the left-front – and looking after the tyres will be crucial.
“For race one I don’t think anyone has done any long runs yet, and it’s going to be really warm so it’s going to be hard on the outside left front,” he said. “So it’ll be interesting to see how the race develops.
“Again it’s probably going to come down to tyre management and if you’ve got superior traction and superior grip you’re probably going to be able to drive past people on these quicker corners if you can hold the speed.”
Many of the drivers feel overtaking will be challenging at the fast 1.85-mile Wiltshire circuit, and Palmer echoes their views.
He says a podium in race two would be “ideal” from his third-position grid slot, but says he will have to be committed to make achieve that.
“I think it’ll be difficult to pass into either of the chicanes and the last corner is a no-go so your options are fairly limited,” said Palmer.
“We’ll try and make a good start and just see where we go from there. A podium would be ideal but you never know how it’s going to unfold.
“I think we’ve got the speed, if we’ve got the tyre management we can maybe make it up into the top five in the first race. But obviously it depends how the race develops I think we might need a safety car or something.
“I think there’s a very high chance that there will be a safety car. It’s the first time I’ve ever been to the track and you can’t underestimate it that’s for sure.
“It’s very very quick and it requires a fairly large amount of commitment.”