Huff, whose WTCC crown got here in 2012, has joined the Speedworks Motorsport-run Toyota Gazoo Racing GB operation for his first full-time BTCC season since his rookie tin-top marketing campaign in 2004.
However Huff was blocked within the Donington pitlane by BTCC technical chief Sam Riches as a result of his Corolla GR Sport had not been within the prescribed place exterior its storage initially of qualifying.
The incident seems to be all the way down to a misinterpretation of the laws arising from the brand new qualifying format, which divides the sector into two teams for the preliminary stage – Huff was within the second group, however that is considered a continuation of a single qualifying session that begins when the primary group will get below approach.
“It’s clearly very irritating,” Huff informed Autosport. “However on the identical time, it’s what it’s – it’s a rule, it’s a regulation, and evidently we obtained it a bit improper.
“The penalty is as a result of the automotive was not in entrance of the storage for the primary qualifying group, although we weren’t in it.
“We had somewhat little bit of dumper harm from second free follow [as Huff also did in the first] – I used to be simply discovering the boundaries and clearly hit it [the chicane tyre stack] too many instances.
“I feel our automotive was there, in entrance of the storage, three minutes after the primary qualifying group began. It’s not a brand new rule, it’s only a new system [for qualifying].”
Ingram will begin race one from pole place
Picture by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Huff is philosophical about beginning his BTCC return in the back of the grid.
“It’s the primary day in school and classes should be realized and realized quick, and sadly we obtained a detention,” he stated.
“It’s disheartening for the boys and myself as a result of that’s not the way you need it to kick off, however at the very least that’s three plenty of dangerous luck we’ve had and issues are available in threes – we had an alternator go in shakedown on Thursday [at the Toyota test track near Derby], a driveshaft snapped in FP1, and now this.
“I’m a fighter, and we’ll do the most effective we are able to to get some respectable factors – I feel the automotive’s sturdy sufficient.”
Huff wasn’t the one notable faller on the first hurdle in qualifying, with Dan Cammish – winner of two races at this equal occasion final yr – consigned to seventeenth on the grid.
The NAPA-liveried Alliance Racing Ford Focus ST pitted too late for wet-weather tyres to get spherical to the chequered flag and start a flying lap – team-mate Sam Osborne plus Energy Maxed Racing Vauxhall driver Mikey Doble continued on slicks and made the reduce.
“We had been caught out by the climate and obtained the maths improper,” stated Cammish.
“I’m disenchanted after how a lot work we’ve completed, how briskly we’re, to not have something to indicate for it.
“However race day is one other day and at the very least we’ve obtained a possibility to maneuver ahead.”
Adam Morgan was in the identical session in his West Surrey Racing BMW, and pitted too late for slicks to get sufficient temperature into them for the rear-wheel-drive machine to progress – he strains up sixteenth.
Cammish’s team-mate Dan Rowbottom was caught on the improper tyres within the dry second session and shares the seventh row with the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai of Tom Chilton, for whom technical woes continued after failing to finish a single flying lap in free follow.