Brett Smith confident of being in fight for pole at Brands

Eurotech Racing’s Brett Smith continued his swift progress in just his fifth BTCC weekend by topping the final practice session of the year at Brands Hatch, and says he is confident of being in the battle for pole position later in the afternoon.

The 25-year-old, who replaced injured dad Jeff in the Honda Civic Type-R at Snetterton, set the third best time in the morning session before pipping team-mate Jack Goff to top spot in the second.

The new Mini champion is hopeful of remaining at the sharp end in the all-important qualifying session, which he predicts will be a battle between himself, Goff and Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram for pole.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Smith said: “I’m really surprised by that – it’s my fifth weekend [in the BTCC] now and I was just hoping for a top 10 qualifying, maybe putting myself in contention for a reverse grid.

“I thought that was a bit of a pipe dream to be honest, but now I’m fully in contention for pole in a couple of hours’ time. I’m really happy.

“We’re a bit slower here on times compared with last year, but we reckon we are there or thereabouts. I reckon it’s between me, Tom [Ingram] and my team-mate.

“Top five I’d be happy with, but pole would be exceptional. I’d park up and leave tonight after that!”

Smith secured his first top 10 qualifying result at Silverstone last time out, and believes he is getting faster as he adopts Goff’s setup on the Civic.

He said: “Initially [my progress] was slow and steady, making some positions every weekend and there was a couple of tenths to my team-mate, who is a massive marker.

“The setup of the car at the start of my year was confidence-inducing with massive understeer, so I could get used to change in speed and braking performance. Now we’re 99 and half percent towards Jack’s setup.”