MacDowall takes Independent pole in Slovakia

Qualifying for the Slovakian round of the World Touring Car Championship has seen Bamboo Engineering's pair of Chevrolet Cruze’s qualify first and second in the Yokohama Independent Trophy and 6th and 8th overall in a session that saw the Honda’s dominate for the first time this season.

Rob Huff who qualified 7th was given a 10 place grid penalty for failing a ride height check meaning Nash will start behind MacDowall.

In what felt like fragmented qualifying sessions, punctuated by the red flag after O’Young had a major collision with the wall, the Honda’s of Tarquini, Monteiro and Michelisz took a 1,2,3 for tomorrow's first race, helped by their shorter wheelbase which suited the technical infield section of the Slovakian circuit, and by compensation weight coming into force which added 40kgs to the Chevrolet Cruze.

The Bamboo Chevrolet Cruze’s had a good qualifying session that saw them placed as the first 2 Yokohama Independent drivers. Alex MacDowall had good pace all day and converted that into a 6th place on the grid for tomorrow's first race.

James Nash had a slightly more challenging second free practice but he delivered his best time of the day when it mattered to be placed 8th on the grid.

Alex MacDowall: " The SlovakiaRing was one of my ‘bogey’ circuits from last year so to come here and conquer it feels good. Honda will be strong tomorrow but performance at full race distance is very different to qualifying, so we’ll see what happens.”

James Nash: “I’m not particularly happy with 8th but we saw last year that the SlovakiaRing suited a shorter wheelbase car than the Chevrolet Cruze.

On the upside though, I’ll be 3rd on the grid behind a BMW and a Seat for the reverse grid for race 2 tomorrow, so that will be my best opportunity.”

Richard Coleman: “We knew Slovakia wouldn't be our finest circuit in terms of results so I’m not too disappointed in a 6th and 8th. Of course we aim to be at the front but we’re in a reasonable place for tomorrow's races.”

Bamboo Engineering