Stefano D’Aste surprised by Suzuka victory

Stefano D’Aste claimed his second WTCC victory of the year at Suzuka today, a victory the Italian was surprised by.
“I am very surprised for this victory, because at the beginning of the weekend we were really struggling to find the right set up,” said D’Aste.

The BMW driver qualified tenth for the first race, getting pole position for the second race thanks to the reversed grid. D’Aste says the team made a lot of work on the car from Saturday, visible in the warm up session which was topped by the Italian.
“We had meetings all the time to find a solution. And this paid off. In the races my car was really good. I could take a good start and in the first laps I really had to fight hard to keep Oriola behind,” said D’Aste.

D’Aste’s closest rival was SEAT driver Pepe Oriola who was really close in the first part of the race.
“I was quicker than me in the first part of the race. Then the rear-wheel drive of my car helped me to save the tyres and I was able to create a gap in the final laps,” said D’Aste.

The BMW driver is third in the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy on 101 points. Norbert Michelisz still heads the table on 136 points despite only scoring two points this weekend. Oriola has closed in on Michelisz and is ten points behind with two race weekends left of the 2012 season.

Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy Standings