LADA Sport LUKOIL driver James Thompson has enjoyed a successful qualifying session at the famous Macau street circuit, the final round of this year’s FIA World Touring Car Championship. The Englishman was sixth-fastest in Q1, which put him comfortably through to Q2, where he was ninth-fastest. According the WTCC reversed grid rules, which apply to the top 10 drivers, James will start Race 2 on Sunday from P2: the best starting position that LADA Sport has ever secured in the WTCC.
His team mate, promising Russian rookie Mikhail Kozlovskiy, posted 20th time on his first experience of the challenging Macau circuit.
James Thompson commented: “Starting so high up the grid is not only the best qualifying result for us this season, but also the best-ever qualifying result in LADA's WTCC history. So I’m absolutely thrilled with our achievement here. We could actually have started the season at Monza in the same position, because we qualified ninth there in Q2 as well, but then there was the accident that meant we couldn’t start the race. So in that respect, we’re ending the season exactly as we started it: on the front row! And that's very encouraging. Of course, it means a huge amount that we’ve managed to do it at such a tough track like the Guia circuit. We’re particularly strong in the mid sector, which definitely helps us. The first sector, with a series of fast corners, is a bit more tricky for us, but on the whole the overall speed and performance of the LADA Granta is very good on this track. That comes as no surprise after the pace we were able to show in testing and free practice, where we were constantly in the top 10. I’m feeling very positive about the race on Sunday and I’m ready to give it my best shot!”
Mikhail Kozlovskiy: “In qualifying I was improving with every set of new tyres. Compared with FP2, I actually improved my lap time by 2.7 seconds – so that’s not too bad at all. We’ve still got a few things to work on though. On the last set of tyres we could have made a bit more progress, but in the first sector of the track after the long straight I hit the barrier – and that definitely influenced my lap time! This circuit is extremely difficult and it certainly keeps you on your toes all the time. You frequently get sessions stopped due to accidents, so there’s no right to make any mistakes, basically. There’s only a short space of time to string a decent lap together, so you’ve got to be as concentrated as possible and psychologically ready to improve rapidly. I was lucky, because the red flags came out just as I was finishing my quick laps. I’m sure Sunday’s races will be very exciting, from what I can see so far!”
