Team HARD’s Mike Bushell says he has to make the pace of his Volkswagen CC count this weekend, as he believes Silverstone is the most favourable circuit for the VW on the British Touring Car Championship calendar.
Bushell, who is sporting a new black livery this weekend, ended FP1 in second position just 0.042s adrift of Tom Oliphant.
The Kent racer told TouringCars.Net he was pleased with the performance of his VW, but is keen to convert practice form into a strong qualifying result.
“I’ve just got a habit of being quick in practice! Which is great, but I need to carry it over into qualifying,” said Bushell.
“We made a bit of an error at Knockhill – which was my fault – with the setup. That unfortunately ruined the car for qualifying, so I’ve come back here with what we had at Rockingham and that was good for P4 there.
“I think this track is the track for the Passat. So this is it, this is the weekend where I’ve got to make it count.”
Ahead of the second free practice session, Bushell says making some small tweaks will be crucial as the lap times are so similar on the national circuit, with the top 15 separated by just three tenths in opening practice.
“You’ve always got to try, so we’ve got a few things to change. We’re trying to find that perfect qualifying setup, because the grid is so close here, and there’s only four corners!
“It’s going to be tight, so we’ll change minor things but we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel.”
After his best qualifying result of fourth at Rockingham, Bushell is hoping for a strong qualifying so he can target silverware this weekend.
“A podium is my goal – it’s been a long time since I’ve stood on a podium by actually finishing in the top three,” he said.
“Last year I won the Clio championship on the Sunday, so it would be nice if I could get up on the podium again.”