Despite topping the second TCR International Series practice session in China, Alain Menu was frustrated that neither Hyundai will be allowed to take part in the second part of qualifying.
The best that either Menu or team-mate Gabriele Tarquini can achieve in qualifying at the Zhejiang International Circuit is 13th after it was confirmed on Saturday morning that the cars, which are on a temporary homologation, would not be permitted to run in Q2.
It means that for both races Menu and Tarquini will be faced with the prospect of having to fight for a strong result on the maiden appearance of the i30 N TCR in a TCR racing series.
“It’s a big bummer,” said Menu to TouringCars.Net. “To be honest, deep down, their goal was to win a race, if the car was capable of doing it, and we think now the car is capable, so it’s a bummer that the car cannot go into Q2. But those are the rules.
“I’ve not thought about new expectations – we’ll do the best we can. Like we said yesterday, it looks like this track will be hard to overtake on but we’ll have to find some ways to do it, make up some places, and have some fun.”
Despite the frustration of a starting grid position in the lower half of the field, Menu was happy with his progress in the car, which saw him top second practice by a comfortable four tenths of a second, having at one stage been more than a second in front.
“I’m happy, because we have been improving the car. I was struggling a little bit on the braking in some corners, with the rear moving about, and we have improved that. The car feels nice. I’m feeling better with it too, so I’m pretty happy.
“We started with new tyres, because that’s what we had in FP1, and then for FP2 I put the rears on the front and the fronts on the rear, so it’s like you’ve got new tyres.
“Even on my car in Vallelunga we tried different dampers, different brands, and this weekend I’m on a different make of damper. Even though the team have some experience with it, I don’t, so it’s basically a learning experience for me, and I’m happy with the progress.”