Photo: PSP Images

Aiden Moffat delighted with top three slot

Aiden Moffat admitted he was surprised and delighted to secure third on the grid for the opening BTCC race of the weekend at Oulton Park.

The Laser Tools Racing driver, who snared his first career win at Donington Park earlier in the year, heads the second row of the grid in Cheshire after a strong performance in the session saw him lap two-tenths of a second off the pace set by polesitter Matt Neal.

Moffat had run inside the top ten in the earlier dry first practice session but admitted he hadn’t expected to run so highly in qualifying.

“I’m really pleased,” he said. “Oulton Park isn’t a circuit where I’ve had strong results in the past so to get P3 on the grid is a bit of a surprise. I expected us to struggle a bit if I’m being honest but we’ve now got a good chance of a strong result in race one.

“I want to try and push for a place on the podium and of course, it would be nice if we could win again. However, it’s important that we push for strong points and I have to take a sensible approach and not do anything stupid. I’ll be taking a mature approach to race day.”

Third on the grid marked Moffat’s best qualifying performance since Thruxton last season, when he put his Mercedes on the front row.