Ill Hugo Valente rues missed opportunity in opening race

Hugo Valente finished the main race in seventh after a contact with James Thompson and the subsequent penalty left him out of the points in the first heat.

Despite being happy for having finished the second race, it is still not enough for the Frenchman: “Seventh gives very few points,” said Valente to TouringCarTimes. “It’s good to have finished the race and I gained more experience in the wet with the Vesta.”

The Lada driver fell ill, probably due to food poisoning, and felt sick in the main race: “I felt very ill mid-race, I felt like vomiting, which I did just after the race. It’s probably something I ate or some water I drank.”

Valente admits the main goal was to score a podium in the opening race: “The point of the weekend was the first race though, and I made a mistake and lost a lot of points. I lost many opportunities both here and in the previous races. I will try to go for fifth in both races at the Nordschleife, I know it’s difficult but that’s my aim.”

Valente’s best result this season so far is fifth at the curtain raiser in Paul Ricard.