MacDowall knew that Chevrolet could beat Ford

Alex MacDowall was outspoken at Snetterton today, as the only driver on the grid who thought the Ford’s were beatable before qualifying.

MacDowall has now outqualified his more experienced team mate four times in the six races this season, though Jason has carried success ballast that’s still a notable acheivement for the BTCC rookie.

“Hopefully we should get a podium or a win” explained MacDowall to TouringCarTimes on tomorrow’s prospects.

MacDowall thought the Ford’s were sandbagging in qualifying in order to deceive the field into not working on their set-up, but Silverline Chevrolet worked hard on the car regardless, focusing on qualifying trim throughout the morning, towing each other through practice.

“We worked out a strategy where me and Jason were going to tow. He’d get two runs behind me, then I’d get one run behind him – so he gets two shots in the tow because we’d only get three stints in qualifying, as obviously he’s fighting for the championship” explained Alex.

Developing the car’s qualifying trim only is not a worry to MacDowall:
“In the race, we’ll do the usual thing where you make it a bit a looser.”

Though implementing their towing manoeuvre in a wet qualifying session wasn’t quite the plan, Plato crossed the line to put the Silverline Chevrolet on pole, and then saw the position snatched away seconds later by his younger team mate, to take Chevrolet’s first pole since Round 9 at Rockingham last year.