“Maximum” effort on final lap key to maiden pole – Andreas Bäckman

WestCoast Racing’s Andreas Bäckman says he gave it “maximum” effort to secure his maiden TCR UK pole position at Croft.

The Swede, in his first year of circuit racing, posted the fastest lap-time in a drying 30-minute session, to beat Pyro Motorsport’s Ollie Taylor (Honda Civic Type R FK8) to top honours by little over half a second.

Bäckman is driving the older FK2 Civic Type R, raced earlier this season by Howard Fuller and Sean Walkinshaw, after WestCoast opted to use Bäckman’s regular Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR to run Fredrik Ekblom for the STCC round at Rudskogen in Norway.

Bäckman was one of the last drivers to cross the line in increasingly drying conditions and claimed his first ever pole position with a time of 1:30.074.

“It was a really tricky qualifying session, starting off in wet conditions and getting more and more dry, so I knew before that it was going to be all about getting the lap together in the end,” Bäckman told TouringCarTimes.

“We started in the beginning with wet tyres and then towards the end of the session, we switched to slicks. In the end I managed to get all my sectors together in the last lap, so it’s really good.

“When I went out of the pit-lane for the last time, I tried to get as big a gap as possible but then people came out in front of me all the time. But I managed to have some luck not to have anyone in front of me on the final lap.

“It was really important for me to get some clear laps in the end for sure.”

More impressive was Bäckman’s immediate pace in the unfamiliar Civic Type R FK2. The Swede admitted he only found out he was driving the car late in the week, but was thankful for additional track running which helped him adapt to his new surroundings.

Two warm up sessions (50 minutes and 25 minutes respectively) preceded official practice, with Bäckman setting the second quickest time in the second session.

“It was a very late decision [to run the Honda] but it has been a really new experience for me,” he said. “I had my first run in the Honda yesterday and it’s such a different car. It handles differently, so it took some time to get used to it. But I got more and more comfortable with the car and for qualifying, I felt more confident.

“Performance wise, it’s a different kind of power but it’s just a car and you have to adapt to it. It’s a fun experience and fun to be at another new circuit.

“I did the maximum and I’m really happy to take my opportunity in qualifying.”