Round 1 of the FIA European Championship ended with results below expectations and potential for the CRG Racing Team drivers. On the one hand, the rain on Thursday and part of Friday complicated the work plans and, at the same time, a bit of bad luck in some key moments of the weekend did not allow them to fight in the upper parts of the standings in this 1st of the 4 scheduled seasonal appointments.
In the qualifying tests of the OK category, Davide Bottaro and Sebastian Minns did not substantially complete even one lap due to traffic in the 3 available laps and started the meeting in the worst possible way, respectively with the 75th and 87th in the general classification. Maria Neto and Alois Girardet, always fast in free practice, also qualified in the middle of the standings. Clovis Nougueyrede was very positive in the top class, obtaining the 19th place overall and therefore starting in the front rows of every qualifying heat. The French driver was then the only CRG driver to qualify for the Final in the top class and, despite starting from the second to last row after missing the last heat on Saturday, he was the protagonist of a solid race, recovering 18 positions and finishing very close to the points zone.
In OKJ, the CRG team lost Matteis Stigsen before the start of the meeting due to health problems that prevented him from taking part in the qualifying, so Daniel Miron with Iame engines and Mats Van Rooijen with TM engines were left to defend the CRG colours. The former did a good job in the qualifying with the 28th overall position out of 84 drivers, while Van Rooijen was unable to complete his best lap, finishing behind in the qualifying. Both then did very well in the heats in terms of speed, with Miron also obtaining a third and a fourth place on Saturday. Bad luck compromised Van Rooijen’s race as he lost three heats, missing out on qualifying for the Final. Daniel Miron showed an excellent race pace in the Final race and narrowly missed the points zone. It was not the weekend the team expected, but many aspects of this weekend are positive and will be the basis for the next appointments.
Team comment:
Jeremy Iglesias (Team Principal): “It was a difficult weekend in which we achieved less than our real potential and we will have to capitalize on this experience for the following races. We had good speed in many phases of the event and this is a fundamental aspect to give us peace of mind. Our technical base is good and this weekend was conditioned above all by episodes. The team is united and will soon be able to collect the results it deserves and that in the last seasons in OK and OKJ it has always achieved with consistency.”
Clovis Nougueyrede (OK): “I am happy with my weekend and the speed we had, both on the lap with new tyres and with the race pace in the heats and in the Final. If I had started further ahead in the Final I could have finished the race very close to the leaders, but unfortunately a couple of unlucky episodes in the heats made everything more difficult. We did a great job and this experience will be the basis from which to start for the next events.”
Daniel Miron (OKJ): “I am happy to finish my first FIA European race in 20th place out of 84 participants. In the Final I recovered many positions with a good speed and pace and in the heats I always fought in the top 5. The team did a good job and I want to thank all the guys.”