Photo: TCR Media

Jean-Karl Vernay battles sickness and overheating to stay in championship mix

Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay was disappointed to pick up just 17 points from the race weekend in Thailand, but accepts the result especially after a top speed issue with his Volkswagen Golf and after suffering with a stomach bug on Sunday morning.

Vernay leaves Thailand 41 points adrift of the championship lead in fourth overall in the drivers’ standings, staying in contention of the leading trio of the two Craft-Bamboo SEATs of James Nash and Pepe Oriola, as well as Leopard team-mate Stefano Comini.

“The first race was difficult,” said Vernay to TouringCarTimes. “I was sick all morning and I was at the medical centre just five minutes before the start and really low on energy. The first race wasn’t great, but at least we scored some good points.

In Race 2 Vernay was forced to settle for eighth, being in the midst of a frenetic battle, which saw early contact with B3 Racing’s Dusan Borkovic, and many door-to-door fights with other competitors, including wild car Kantadhee Kusiri.

“In the second race, I started OK until I passed Stefano, then (Dusan) Borkovic hit me and I lost several positions. I tried to get back to the front, but we had a problem with engine temperature which we need to understand. A couple of times in the race I nearly passed Stefano, but then he just pulled away on the straights, which with 30kg of ballast he shouldn’t be able to do.

“I’m not happy, it’s not a good score for the championship, but at least I didn’t score zero points.”