Sailesh qualifies second at Rockingham

Continuing their good work from his maiden victory at Nurburgring last month, Sailesh's Team Lotus Sport UK squad looked all set to grab pole at the banked circuit but an untimely yellow flag put paid to their chances.

The foundation for this performance was laid earlier in the day during the two practice sessions, where the team faced some gremlins but worked tirelessly to eradicate the issues for qualifying.

"The first practice was not too productive in terms of race work. We were having a tough time with the brakes and tyres which did not seem in very good shape," said Sailesh.

But Sailesh's teammate Phil Glew still managed to set the quickest time of the session, with Sailesh emerging second fastest.

Second practice was better as the duo had new tyres and brakes to work with. The team then decided to make some setup changes to cope with the unique demands of the banked circuit, but things did not go well to begin with.

"We went backwards with the set-up early on in the second session and the rear felt loose. In fact, it was worse compared to the first session," he said.

However, both drivers were still able to post similar times as the first session and retained their 1-2 spots on the timesheets.

"We were quick but there were still a lot of issues that needed to be sorted. I got just six laps of running during the hour since Phil spent most of the time trying to zero in on a setup," said Sailesh.

The team has settle for second on the grid for tomorrow's two-hour race.

"It's a long race tomorrow, with pit stops for fuel and everything, so it'll be race pace and pit work that will decide the result," he said.