Despite missing out on pole position to West Surrey Racing team-mate Andy Priaulx, Sam Tordoff told TCF that he was very happy to pick up an eventful front row spot in Saturday’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship qualifying session at Knockhill.
The session started in the worst possible manner for the BMW driver – lying fourth in the championship – when he went off into the gravel trap at Scotsman corner in the opening minutes, kissing the tyre barrier.
“A very big moment”, Tordoff said to The Checkered Flag on the minor meeting with the barriers.
“I think I’ve used up my lucky pants in one go for this weekend! I just glanced the barriers and luckily it bounced off, so we managed to keep going and get out of the gravel.
“From there – the next 10 minutes were a bit of a disaster really. That wrote off that set of tyres, then just as I got going again with the next set the red flag came out. For 20 minutes I’d not actually done a lap.”
The final five minutes of the session were a hectic affair for many, created by a second red flag interruption as Matt Neal spun his Honda Civic down the hill at the opening bend.
Tordoff’s effort was enough to grab pole, but only briefly as seconds later team-mate Priaulx took the top spot away from him, a result that came as a relief for the former still.
“It was twitchy bum time for the last few minutes, so to finish P2 was a really good result. All things considering, I’m happy to start on the front row. It’s started in the right way.
“We need to score good points tomorrow, to take advantage when the car is good”, he said, adding that rain would not be problematic if it greeted drivers on Sunday.
“They say that the rain forecast for tomorrow is now not going to come, but wet or dry, starting from pole means you’re on the top of the hill and we can get away from there.”
