Pepe Oriola denies blocking Stefano Comini in qualifying

Pepe Oriola said he didn’t deliberately hold up the Volkswagen of Stefano Comini in the second part of qualifying at Macau, saying he was pushing as hard as he could, but the speed difference between the SEAT and the Volkswagen in the wet was “something else.”

Oriola had set the fastest lap in Qualifying 1, but when the rain fell, the Leopard Racing Volkswagens found more pace with their wet set-up, with Stefano Comini and Jean-Karl Vernay dominating the 15-minute Qualifying 2 segment.

Comini had just set provisional pole and was set to improve, but was beaten by team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay, helped in part when the Swiss driver found himself stuck behind Oriola’s Craft-Bamboo SEAT in the final part of the lap.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. It was my last lap, and I was improving a little bit,” said Oriola to TouringCarTimes. “The Volkswagens had found something better than us as they were over four seconds faster. They must have something else in their set-up, I don’t know where. It can’t be the mapping as they have the same engine.

“I think maybe their 6,000km of testing in the winter in France where it’s always raining might be it, and maybe we didn’t invest our money a good way, as now we’re paying a big penalty.

“I think (team-mate) James (Nash’s) championship is almost over, as if Vernay has to let Comini pass, he will for the championship.”