Points leader Sam Tordoff ‘gutted’ with Saturday showing

Points leader Sam Tordoff admitted he was gutted at the end of a difficult day at Rockingham that saw him qualify down in 28th place for the latest rounds of the BTCC season.

The WSR driver lost valuable track time with a trip into the gravel in the opening practice session of the weekend, meaning he went into qualifying on the back foot having been unable to run through his planned programme.

Qualifying however would prove to be nothing short of a disaster for both Tordoff and team-mates Rob Collard and Jack Goff, with all three BMWs suffering a water-related misfire that left them well down the order for race day.

“I’m absolutely gutted,” he admitted. “Today has been a disaster for us as had an issue with water ingestion that caused a misfire and ruined our chances in qualifying.

“We have good race pace in the car so have to see what tomorrow brings, but we’ve been left with a lot to do.”

Collard starts just two places ahead of Tordoff in the sister JCT600 with GardX car and was also left to rue the weather.

“In the dry I think we could have qualified inside the top ten but the rain threw up an unfortunate scenario I’ve never seen before,” he said. “For all three of us to suffer the same problem is bizarre, although I also had an issue with the gear shifter snapping when I went out after the red flag. It’s been a frustrating day.”