• The Volkswagen CC qualified in its highest position at Knockhill since 2017
• 24 of the 25 entries qualified within one second of the pole position time
• Carl equalled his season’s best qualifying position
• Jack lines up 22nd and Carl 17th
• Ollie misses out through injury and Nic through accident damage caused at the previous round
Jack: “The balance of the car has drastically improved on our last visit to Knockhill in 2019. I feel a lot more comfortable in the car and unlike last year the cars characteristics are easier to understand making it much more drivable. The free practice sessions went smoothly, the car is consistent which will help us in tomorrow’s races.
“Qualifying however was a case of ‘same old’ as we struggle to improve on our free practice 2 time unlike our rivals. We struggle to maximise qualifying at the moment as everyone else seems to improve session on session which ultimately sees us slip down the order when it matters.
“It’s a real shame because the race pace in the car seems good and if we were a little higher we would be in the hunt for some decent points on a track that has never suited our car. It is what it is, and tomorrow is a new day. Myself and the team never give up so once again we will be giving it everything to try and recover the weekend!”
Carl: “We have tried lots of different setups on the car this weekend from something radical on Friday to something more contemporary this afternoon in the search for outright qualifying performance. It’s safe to say what we tried in Shakedown yesterday just didn’t work but today the car has felt much better. The BMW 1 Series is a great little car around Knockhill and I’m happy to be half a second (0.552) off of the pole time. The grid is so close and even an extra tenth of a second would have moved me up to 14th place.
“Starting from 17th leaves me a great opportunity to utilise the BMW’s start advantage to get myself into the points from the get-go tomorrow. The race pace felt good so I am confident that if I can stay out of trouble, I can score a good haul of points and continue to battle Bobby and Michael for the lead of the Jack Sears trophy.
“The car has run faultlessly all day so a big thank you to my team as always. Bring on tomorrow.”
Tony (Managing Director): “Today was a real shame for Jack who looks to have a consistent and decent race car for tomorrow. Once again qualifying is our achilleas heel and from gives Jack lots of work to do to be able to grab some points this weekend.
“Of course the team is disappointed but we knew coming to Knockhill would be tough as the Volkswagen CC has never really held a sustainable challenge around this tight and twisty track. The nature of the car and its long wheelbase really put it at a disadvantage. Jacks race pace has been really strong so lets see if we can make some places up tomorrow.
“I’m happy for Carl in the BMW who is making good progress every time he gets in the car. Rear wheel drive cars tend to excel around Knockhill so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Carl score a good haul of points tomorrow after maximising the cars starting attributes, he should fly off the line!”