WSR’s BTCC Qualifying Hopes Dashed by Monsoon Rain at Thruxton
In a dramatic turn of events, monsoon-like conditions at Thruxton Circuit on Saturday severely hampered the qualifying efforts of WSR’s drivers in the British Touring Car Championship. The session, which is often a crucial determinant of the grid positions for Sunday’s races, was marked by torrential rain that rendered the track conditions extremely hazardous.
According to reports from Talk Motorsport, Drivers’ Champion Jake Hill, who competes for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport in a BMW 330i M Sport, managed to secure a spot on the fourth row of the grid. However, his achievement was somewhat tempered by the fact that his team, along with LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, had shown strong pace in the preceding practice sessions.
“We had very good pace in both damp practice sessions so we were pretty confident of being on the front two rows,” commented Team Principal Dick Bennetts, as quoted by Talk Motorsport. “Unfortunately, we had heavy rain that turned qualifying into a total lottery and made track conditions very dangerous. We’ve had several stoppages and one accident that driver was very lucky to walk away from. I think we should have delayed the session until conditions improved. We’re expecting dry weather tomorrow though and we’ll do what we can to make up places through the three races.”
The second group of the ‘Q1’ section of the three-stage qualifying format proved particularly challenging, with both Jake Hill and Charles Rainford requiring ultra-fast final laps to secure their spots in Q2. However, with water pooling in certain areas and track conditions varying from minute to minute, the drivers faced an extremely difficult task.
As reported by Talk Motorsport, Jake Hill, who was also entitled to less of the series’ mandatory boost than all but two of his rivals, will start Sunday’s opening race from eighth place. His teammate, Charles Rainford, who suffered an off-track excursion while looking set to improve his marker on his final lap, will start from 11th.
Aiden Moffat, Charles’ LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR team-mate, who was second-fastest in FP1, starts 20th as he – like Jake – was placed in Group 2 of Q1 and suffered the worst of the conditions. Jack Sears Trophy points leader Daryl DeLeon was desperately unlucky not to join his stablemates Jake and Charles in Q2; the Cambridge racer pushed out of the crucial top-six positions by just six hundredths of a second after the chequered flag.
The first of Sunday’s three races is due to start at 1145. As Talk Motorsport reports, the WSR team will be looking to capitalize on the expected dry weather on Sunday and make up places through the races.
In related news, the incident during qualifying highlights the ongoing challenges faced by drivers and teams in the British Touring Car Championship. As noted by Talk Motorsport, the championship has seen its fair share of dramatic moments, and it remains to be seen how the WSR team will fare in the upcoming races.
For more information on the British Touring Car Championship and the latest news, please visit Talk Motorsport.
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