John Filippi disappointed with missed qualifying chances

John Filippi had been the fastest Chevrolet RML driver in Q1 this morning at Buriram, Thailand. When the French driver went out on track for his Q2 flying lap, however, he found several drivers in front of him who blocked him and ruined his chances of a clean lap.

“It was obviously a strategy mistake,” admitted the Campos Racing driver to TouringCarTimes. “I think we should have gone out at a different time during the session. Despite this, I think the other drivers’ behaviour was just unfair.”

The Frenchman says he could have even gained access to Q3 were he not impeded during his flying lap: “If you have so many drivers ahead of you and they don’t move out of the line to let you through you can push like hell, but there is not much you can do. I am disappointed because after the Q1 results I knew I could be good for a top five result – certainly in the top seven – and the disappointment is even bigger when I think about that.”

Despite these issues, the driver is positive ahead of the races: “We changed a few things on the car and hopefully they will help me improve from my 12th position. To be honest I think I am improving massively, just like the car and the team. I am optimistic and hopefully I can score good results.”