Andrew Watson pulled together a great lap as the whole Power Maxed Racing team qualified in the top eight at Thruxton. After Mikey Doble qualified fourth and Árón Taylor-Smith eighth, Watson knew “the cars were good here so it’s great to convert that”.
After a couple of weekends not on the pace of the opening round at Donington, the qualifying performance from the whole team had a great reception from the whole team. After Doble had placed his car in fourth, the whole team are much happier.
“It’s great to lift the spirits; we knew the cars were good here so it’s great to convert that and qualify,” Watson told TouringCars.Net.
“We’ve had some pace this year, obviously Donington was great but the last couple we’ve just been a bit scrappy and the window is so tight here you need to really nail it.
“We did a good clean job today so happy with that. I left a bit on the table with all the track limits debates going on. Left myself plenty of margin there but in general happy we’re in the mix for tomorrow which is where we need to be and hopefully collect some nice points.”
As many drivers have spoken about, even after great qualifying performances, the state of the tyres will determine the Sunday. That being said, Watson is confident the team have what it takes to be strong on race day.
“I think if anything we normally go better in the races so once you’re at the front it’s much easier to match the pace. When you qualify further down the pack a lot of times you can get stuck there so we know how important qualifying is in this championship.
“So we’ve been really focusing on that and delighted to be up near the front and let’s see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some great results for the team in the overall championship but also for Mikey and I and [the] Jack Sears [Trophy].
“The other rookies are a fair bit down the pack so looking forward to a nice clean day but enjoying it so far, the sun’s out and really enjoying the whole touring car experience.”