Tom Mills, Liam McNeilly and Zack Ping were the top-three drivers in qualifying at a sweltering Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. Here's how each contender reacted afterwards.
Double pole, Tom Mills, KMR Sport:
"Pole is very important round here, it’s very hard to overtake, it’s hard to follow around the back. With the lack of hard braking zones it’s hard to make a move so qualifying is very important, I've still got to get off the line in the lead but still the perfect start. I probably didn’t expect it as much here because the car wasn’t feeling so great in the previous test days, but we seem to have found something in that session and I seem to have put it together.
"Last year a bit of rain helped, I don’t think it’s going to rain, might have a thunderstorm, it’s very warm. I’m hoping it’s clean sailing and I can get it done [the championship] tomorrow. But if not, I’m not trying to win it this weekend, I’m just thinking about the long term and I’ll play it safe if I need to."
Second, Liam McNeilly, Fox Motorsport:
"It is the best quali of the year but a bit annoying that we missed out on pole by such a small margin. Hopefully we can improve on that position and have a good run out in the first couple of races.
"The start position for second is notoriously known for being better than first so hopefully if we get a good start, that’s sort of dependent on Tom’s start too, hopefully we can get alongside and battle him into Turn 1. It’s going to be hard, it’s just keeping my nose clean on the first lap and putting a bit of pressure on.
"Yeah it definitely is gonna keep me cool [this interview was conducted next to McNeilly's paddling pool!]. Need to keep hydrated and cool, dipping in the pool after quali and the races is going to keep me nice and cool for the weekend!"
Third, Zak Ping, VRD Racing:
"Last week, quite the shunt we had, shout out the Brian Morgan and all the VRD crew for getting that put together. We're back on pace this weekend.
"I wanted to get more track time here, this track is something I don’t see a lot in America, so I wanted to get as much track time as possible and learn and learn. Ended up P3, very good job, very excited. Shout out to Dan Mitchell, all the VRD crew, I can’t thank them enough for all they’ve done for me. Should be fun, hopefully Tom Mills and Liam can wreck and I can win!
"I’ve never down a downhill start, much less standing starts in general, I think we’ll just try and pick what we can, get a good start and see what happens from there."
