EXCELLENT RACE DRIVES FROM CAYGILL ON HUNGARORING DEBUT SMARTLY OVERCOME QUALIFYING SET-UP DIFFICULTIES
Audi Sport TT Cup driver Josh Caygill produced two highly competitive race performances at the Hungaroring over the weekend, 24th/25th September, to secure a pair of hard-earned ninth place finishes after brilliantly overturning a trying qualifying session impacted by set-up troubles.
On his maiden visit to the Budapaest track, the Netherton driver looked forward to a fruitful first outing there but handling troubles throughout practice and qualifying stunted his true pace and points-scoring potential.
Fortunately getting to the bottom of the understeer problem for the races, the 27-year-old climbed from 13th position to ninth in race one and expertly carved his way into ninth again in the second contest, that time from 15th on the grid.
“Practice was tough with understeer causing me problems while trying to learn the track”, explained Josh, “In qualifying, though, the car was understeering so bad you couldn’t push hard enough which is why we ended up where we did.
“We got the mechanics to check the set-up and the rear wheels had tow-in on both sides in error, some new parts had been fitted since the previous race [Nurburgring] and the set-up hadn’t been put back as it should have been. Starting where I did for both races was pretty soul destroying, but the car was good and I could lap consistently within 0.7 seconds of the leaders lap after lap.”
He added: “It was a shame I had to fight so hard through traffic, instead of going forward from the sharp end, but two ninth places were respectable considering where we started the weekend. It’s not where I’m capable of finishing, so now we look forward to the last two races of the season where we’ll be in familiar territory at Hockenheim. Hopefully we can finish the season on a positive.”
From the seventh row of the grid in round 13 on Saturday afternoon, Josh made a terrific start to immediately gain two places and he held 11th position around the outside of Turn One, pressuring Christoph Hofbauer too as he searched for a way into the top 10.
Running within a mere 0.4 seconds of his rival, Josh lapped very competitively and on lap three he was able to move into 10th place as a result of a puncture and wild slide out of Turn Three for Emil Lindholm just ahead.
On lap four Josh was nudged back to 11th place by guest driver Milan Dontje at the final corner but he stayed well in touch and a couple of laps later the Yorkshire driver was back into the top 10 after a rival dropped back. Then, on lap nine, the Safety Car was called into action after a tangle between two cars further down the order.
Racing resumed on lap 12 and after staying well within touch of Dontje, Josh made his move with a fantastic late pass on the brakes at the first corner into the 13th and final lap to retake ninth place. Capping a very strong conclusion to the race, on the dash to the chequered flag he was just 0.3 seconds behind the group ahead.
For Sunday’s race, Josh started a couple of places lower on the grid in 15th position but a superb opening lap hoisted him into 11th place where he remained until lap five when he broke into the top 10. Two laps later, he was into ninth place and stayed there to the flag on lap 13 to round-out a very positive conclusion to the weekend.
Hockenheim in Germany, the venue for the championship curtain-raiser back in May, will host the season finale three weeks from now over the weekend 15th/16th October.
2016 Audi Sport TT Cup Driver Standings (after Rd12):9th Josh Caygill, 110pts
