Pepe Oriola happy with podium result

Pepe Oriola came second in the inaugural TCR race in Sepang, Malaysia. The Spaniard had started from eighth but made the most out of his chances and scored a well-deserved podium behind race winner Stefano Comini and ahead of Craft Bamboo Lukoil team-mate Sergey Afanasyev.

“I wanted to do well, and I did so by scoring a podium in the first race,” said Oriola. “I had the chance to improve my track position several times during the race and I made the most out of them.”

The SEAT driver was hoping to close the gap from the race leader once he overtook his team-mate, but by that time the Swiss-Italian had such an advantage it was impossible for the Spaniard to do more than second:”I wanted to chase Comini, but he had built too much of a gap. I’m happy with the podium and, despite the scorching heat, I enjoyed myself and the car responded perfectly.”

Oriola will start from the second row, in third place, due to the reversed grid. His goal is to score another podium finish:”It would be great to finish the weekend with two podiums, but each race is different and everyone will do their best, so I need to keep calm.”

Race 2 will take place tomorrow at 6.35 CET.