Nicky Catsburg says track conditions a key factor in change of pace

Nicky Catsburg qualified in second position at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with the Volvo driver six-tenths of a second away from the pole-sitter Norbert Michelisz’s Honda, with a time over four seconds off the pace the Dutchman showed in the morning practice session.

With the temperatures rising and grip levels changing, with cars from the Audi TT Cup support race having incidents just ahead of qualifying, Catsburg explained the track changed significantly from the morning session, where he’d managed to beat José María López’s qualifying record from 2016.

“The big difficulty for everyone was the change in track conditions,” said Catsburg to TouringCarTimes. “There was a lot higher temperatures, more dirt on track, so we were struggling. That’s why I’m four seconds off my lap from this morning. It was expected, but still I wish I could have done a little bit better.

“On my last lap, there was a big vibration on the back straight. We were running with an adjusted set-up, and when I got the vibration I decided not to take any risks to avoid ending up putting the car in the wall, and not be able to do either MAC3 or the day after.”

Despite missing out on pole, Catsburg, second in the standings, still believes things are looking up for tomorrow, starting ahead of championship leader Tiago Monteiro on the grid, and with team-mate Néstor Girolami on pole for the opening race.

“As a team we did a good job,” he said. “As Néstor is on pole for Race 1, this helps me as he’ll be able to take points away from other people. And for me to in front of Tiago (Monteiro) for the main race is good, and of course I’d like to win the main race.”