Bartrum: ‘It was a missed opportunity’

Airwaves BMW Team principal Dave Bartrum believes that Jonathan Adam should have been higher on the grid for the first of tomorrow’s races at Snetterton. Adam qualified in sixth position but was running near the top of the timesheers for much of the session having set a quick lap early on. His team-mate Rob Collard struggled throughout the session and will start from 14th for race one.

“That was a mixed session for us,” said Bartrum. “Jonny did well to qualify sixth in such a competitive field, but Rob’s car had a problem which stopped him finding his pace. I think it was a bit of a missed opportunity in some ways though as I really believe Jonny’s car was capable of being on the second row of the grid. If he could’ve got another clear run in the middle of the session he might just have been able to shave off another couple of tenths and put himself right in the mix at the front.

“We will need to take a very close look at Rob’s car and try to find out what the problem is.  However, I’m sure both Jonny and Rob will both be as competitive as ever when we get into the races tomorrow.”

Adam admitted that he was disappointed to slip down the order towards the end of the session, citing the light rain that fell mid-way through as working to his disadvantage.

“It was good to get sixth but I was higher up the grid for the majority of the session so it was a little bit frustrating that a couple of guys just managed to jump ahead of me near the end,” he said. “I got a really good flying lap in early and when it started to rain a little bit I thought that I had timed it perfectly, as if it had started pouring the rest of the field would’ve struggled to better it. It quickly dried out again though so they all had a chance to hit back with good times

“The car felt pretty good so all we need to do is a little fine tuning to the setup for tomorrow.  I feel confident that we can be competitive right from the first race and I’m really looking forward to battling with the guys ahead of me as they are all quality drivers.  It should be exciting stuff.”

After recording his worst qualifying position of the year, Collard made no secret his displeasure with the car.

“That was a really difficult qualifying session for me, the worst I’ve had all season,” said the Hampshire racer. “I just didn’t feel I had any balance in the car. No matter how I drove it I just couldn’t extract any more pace. We definitely have a problem with the car so we’re going to have to work really hard tonight to try and get it into decent shape for the races tomorrow. If we can do that then I’ll have a chance of taking the fight to the cars in front of me.”