Josh Files says he is hoping for “consistent conditions” for race one of TCR Europe at the Hungaroring, as he feels comfortable in his Honda’s setup in the wet or dry.
The British driver qualified third on the grid in a mixed qualifying session which started wet but ended up rewarding championship leader Mikel Azcona who took pole after gambling on slick tyres.
Files told TouringCars.Net he feels that he and Hell Racing Team with KCMG teammate Attila Tassi can get past Azcona on pace and is aiming for a 1-2.
“We’ve had a comfortable setup rain or dry,” said Files. “We’ve only been beaten because the car in front took a big risk because he didn’t have speed in either, and he put slicks on the front and it paid off right at the last minute.
“So fair play for taking the risk and getting the reward. But we are the fastest of the cars on full wets, and everyone else was there as well.
“We know we have a fast car for the races, so I just hope its consistent conditions whether it’s rain or dry it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s consistent. If it’s somewhere in between then someone is always going to win and someone’s always going to lose on who chooses the correct tyre.
“Now it’s just about having a good race, and hopefully getting a 1-2 for Hell. I don’t think Mikel has the performance or the pace to stay at the front in this race, so we’re aiming for a 1-2 which would be nice. ”
After Files and teammate Tassi failed to score points in the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps, he believes taking the championship “race by race” is the tactic for the team now, instead of looking at championship aspirations.
“We just have to see from there really,” he said. “You have to think that we’re quite far behind in the championship by now so we might as well play it race by race and see what happens.
“We’ve had our fair share of bad luck, maybe the others will have their bad luck later. Who knows, but at the moment we’re doing the best we can this weekend and it’s paying off.”
Race one of the weekend is set to get underway at 13:40 CEST (12:40 BST).