Aiden Moffat admits that he had to ‘hustle’ his Alfa Romeo Giulietta around Knockhill in qualifying for the TCR UK series in order to secure a front row grid position for Sunday’s opening race.
Moffat put his car in second in qualifying for the second meeting in a row, ending up 0.25 seconds behind points leader Dan Lloyd in the more developed Volkswagen Golf.
Whilst the Scot was pleased with his pace, he admits that getting the car to the front required him to drive it on the very edge around the undulating 1.26 mile circuit.
“We were definitely pushing and having to hustle the car and drive it on the edge,” said Moffat to TouringCars.Net. “You can’t really be smooth with it, which isn’t ideal.
“The way it’s handling you need to be very aggressive with it, which makes it hard to put all of the sectors together as it’s so on the edge.”
Moffat believes that there is a lot more potential in the Romeo Ferraris-built car, and expects to continue getting closer to the pace as the season progresses.
“We’re at the initial stages with the car and we have a lot planned. We’re already qualifying on the front row, so it’s looking promising for the season ahead.
“We expected to be a lot further off the pace, so to be getting front rows in qualifying is good. Obviously, we had that at Silverstone, but that was in changing conditions and it was a bit of a lottery. This was in a genuine session and the pace was there for the front row.”
Moffat also added that whilst he enjoys racing in front of his home fans it didn’t feel much different to secure a strong qualifying result than it would at any other race track.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, it’s just a bit more special when you do well at home. Qualifying can dictate your weekend sometimes, so it’s a crucial thing.
“We’ve just got to get our head down and do the best we can. We need to make sure we keep getting the laps in, keep developing the car and getting closer to our end goal.”