Dan Rowbottom commended the NAPA Racing UK performance after a ‘pretty special’ performance from the whole team. It is the second year running that Rowbottom will start from second at Croft.
After a couple of lackluster qualifying performances with an intervention from track limits. Rowbottom is happy to be back up towards the front. “So, back to where we want to be.” Rowbottom told TouringCars.Net. “P1 would have been better, obviously, but to get the team for Napa Race in the UK to get P1, 2, 3 is pretty special.
“So yeah, qualified P2 two years in a row here at Croft, that seems to be my happy place. But yeah, it is what it is. Puts us in really good stead for tomorrow.”
Despite performances not being up to his Croft standard, Rowbottom believes the pace has always been there. “To be honest with you, the last two rounds aren’t as bad as they look. Thruxton, we’d have been P4, but track limits, and Oulton Park, I think we’d have been P3 or 4, track limits again.
“So we’ve lost the last two times, and we just didn’t get an early banker in, so we were reliant on dragging the car out, really. P1 at Donington at the start of the year, so I think the pace is in me and in the car, it’s just sometimes circumstances.
“Ultimately, it’s down to me. I’m the one driving it, and I’m the one that got the track limit regulation wrong, but yeah, it is what it is. I think there’s clear pace in the car, we’ve just got to learn to extract it at the right time.”
The performance means that the team hold the first three positions on the grid. Rowbottom jokingly spoke about how that is not always a good thing. “Well, we’ll see, eh? It’s always a bit of a bad omen, isn’t it? Sometimes, three teammates starting together.
“I’m sure it’ll be okay, but realistically, we’ve got to work together. There’s a championship at stake here as well for the team, so we just need to be conscious of that all the time.”
The pace does not appear to be just one lap pace from Saturday practice. Rowbottom is confident the pace is there no matter the conditions. “Yeah, I mean, P1 and P2, we were trying different things with the car, and ultimately, that learning process put us where we are in qualifying.
“The car was great in qualifying, good one-lap pace, and I think we had probably a good pace for three or four laps if we needed it, so yeah, we’re in a good place. It is what it is, isn’t it? I mean, every forecast you look at is different. I think it’s just going to be windy with a slight chance of rain later in the day, so fingers crossed it blows over. It’ll be a good day’s racing.”