WestCoast Racing’s Jessica Bäckman says she is “very pleased” with her best ever TCR UK qualifying result after placing fourth in the half-hour session at Castle Combe.
Bäckman’s previous best result was last time out at Brands Hatch, where she lined up fifth, before scoring a maiden podium with second in the reverse-grid contest.
Despite all three of WestCoast Racing’s Volkswagens running 60kg of compensation weight while their opposition run none, Bäckman’s sibling Andreas is just ahead of her on the second row, while teammate Dan Lloyd qualified second.
She told TouringCars.Net that she was very happy with her pace and consistency in qualifying, and feels it bodes well for the races.
“I’m very pleased with qualifying because I improved my own lap time by half a second and I did that time for many laps,” said Bäckman.
“For me it feels very good and we are quite happy this weekend because we can still do good times.”
She echoed the thoughts of many other drivers in praising the 1.85-mile Wiltshire circuit for its fast and flowing nature, and is excited to race it for the first time.
“It’s a very fast track so you really need to get everything together otherwise you will lose a lot,” she said.
“So it’s a quite challenging track – you really have to push quite hard but I like it. I really like it, so it will be fun in the races.”
After her maiden podium at Kent’s Brands Hatch over a month ago, Bäckman is keen to score more silverware and carry her forward momentum.
“My goal is a podium again so that would be nice. In race two it will be difficult though because now I’m starting further to the back than I’m used to.
“But I will try to get a podium in the first race and hopefully in the second race.”
The opening race of the TCR UK weekend at Castle Combe is scheduled to get underway at 12:55 BST.