Smiley 'a bit disappointed' to miss out on pole

BTC Norlin Racing's Chris Smiley has admitted he was 'a bit disappointed' to miss out on pole position during yesterday's British Touring Car Championship qualifying at Donington, despite a career high of second on the grid.

The Honda Civic Type-R driver came within touching distance of securing his first ever pole position in the series, but was dramatically denied by Josh Cook, who took his maiden pole in the BTCC, right at the death of the 30-minute shootout.

Smiley explained a small error on the exit of Coppice on his final flier meant he lost critical momentum heading down the back the straight towards the last corner, ultimately handing the initiative to the Vauxhall Astra of Cook. 

Nevertheless, P2 still marked an incredible 14-place qualifying improvement from Smiley's previous best Saturday effort.

"I’m actually a little bit disappointed because pole position was there," Smiley told Crash.net. "Coming through McLeans on the last lap I was 0.2s up. I made the slightest mistake coming out of Coppice and it ruined my drive down the straight.

"That’s what cost me pole position. I was half-a-tenth off pole. I say I’m disappointed to not get pole but I’m happy with where I am. We’re still on the front row.

"You just have to get off the line and keep your nose clean. You have to finish and keep consistent points in this championship. There’s no point getting turned off at turn one trying to win the race."

Having used the Chevrolet Cruze in 2017, the BTC Norlin squad switched to Honda machinery over the winter and despite a lack of testing prior to the season start, both Smiley and team mate James Nash find themselves in the top-seven ahead of today's opening race.

"We had good pace all day. Qualifying proved that. For us to go out in the last five minutes and go faster again, I’m not too disappointed," Smiley continued.

"I know we’ve got genuine pace in the car, that wasn’t a lucky lap. We’ve got a lot to build on. This is only our second weekend with the car. We’ve done virtually no testing whatsoever.

"I do like Donington a lot. The race is going to be interesting. We’ve got the hard tyre on, which isn’t the preferred tyre. We have no ballast.

"One way or another, the conditions are going to be challenging."