Photo: TCR Media

Rob Huff looking to stay out of title fight as he chases Macau record

By

Rob Huff has a chance to leave Macau with the all-time record of victories at the Guia circuit after qualifying on pole position for the 2015 Macau Guia Race 2.0T, but also wants to stay out of the close battle for the championship which takes place behind him on the grid on Sunday.

Huff set pole position with a time 1.6 seconds clear of his WestCoast Racing Honda team-mate Kevin Gleason, driving this weekend with the Swedish team in the JAS Motorsport-built car, which are usually his competitors on the WTCC grid. The 2012 champion is also working with new engineer Giancarlo Bruno this weekend.

“I’m really pleased with the car. That’s the first time I’ve put new tyres on the car, so in Q1 I didn’t push too hard as I just wanted to feel how much extra grip we were going to get, I didn’t need to do anything but an 80% lap, and then in Q2 I wound it up a bit and did the business,” said Huff to TouringCarTimes.

“I don’t want to get involved with Stefano (Comini), Pepe (Oriola) or Jordi (Gené), ideally me and Kevin (Gleason) will just get two good starts and disappear, but I’ve never done a start in this kind of car, it’s very much like a road car so it’s going to be difficult, but I’ve done plenty of overtaking here before, so I’m not too worried if I lose a few places off the start.”

Reflecting on the competition in the TCR Series, the 27-time WTCC race winner says his performance at Macau isn’t a fair reflection on the strength of the field.

“I’ve been here 11 times now and that’s showing in the lap time difference we’ve shown all weekend,” he said. “I’m really impressed with Kevin and Comini; I think they’ve done a really impressive job. I guess Pepe is probably a little upset with himself, as he should have been a definite P2 this weekend if not challenging me for the pole.”

Huff has won at the Guia circuit seven times before, a record second only to Michael Rutter, who has won the Motorcycle Grand Prix eight times.

Rutter starts second on the grid for this year’s Grand Prix and can extend his record to nine wins by the end of Saturday, but with Huff on pole position and with two races tomorrow for the Guia Race 2.0T, there is the potential to extend his record to nine victories.