Dusan Borkovic hoping to continue in TCR International Series after good Macau performance

Dusan Borkovic managed to finish seventh in the championship after two top five finishes in Macau. On his debut at the Circuito da Guia, the B3 Racing driver’s focus was on finishing as high as possible in the championship, but fifth in the first race and fourth in the second were not enough, as he finished just two points behind team-mate Mat’o Homola, who was fifth in the final standings.

“In the first race I just didn’t have a good start”, admitted the Serbian to TouringCarTimes. “(James) Nash and Gianni (Morbidelli) overtook me and then the Honda crashed at Mandarin. I saw the opportunity to be fifth in the championship, and I thought I’d try to go for it because I deserved it. I think I was really bad in the first half of the season, having had so many crashes. I started driving with my brain and changed my attitude, which allowed me to finish the races and be quick at the same time.”

The SEAT driver felt really strong in Macau: “I don’t want to say I had the best pace, but for sure I was really fast. When Tiago was ahead of me in the first race, after I overtook Nash, I felt I was stronger than him in the second sector, but I didn’t want to take risks. When I realised Mat’o (Homola) had crashed I knew I could be fifth in the championship, so I didn’t want to risk the car and the points.”

Borkovic shares the frustration felt by pretty much all drivers at not having enough racing laps due to the incidents at the infamous Circuito da Guia: “In the second race I knew I needed to finish, but then again the second race was not even a proper race. Tiago (Monteiro) took advantage of the good start of the Hondas, but everyone was thinking about the championship. I felt I was faster than (Jean-Karl) Vernay but I didn’t want to take risks, so I said to myself ‘forget it, you can finish behind (Pepe) Oriola’, and I didn’t risk defending and let him through. Fifth in the championship is not too bad, knowing that I haven’t finished several races.”

The Serbian is happy with his performances in the former Portuguese colony: “I am happy I was good in terms of pace here in Macau, in my first year. I want to thank my Serbian fans, my home city and my sponsors, because they allowed me to race this year.”

Borkovic’s future is not sorted yet, but he would like to continue in the TCR International Series: “As for the future, it depends on a lot of factors. It depends on which car I can drive, I need a quick and reliable car like everyone. I surely would like to come back to the TCR International Series, it’s such a good championship. We’ve had several guest drivers and they were not quicker than us, so that shows the level is good and the quality of the drivers is great.”

The Serbian also congratulated double champion Stefano Comini, even comparing him to touring car legend Gabriele Tarquini: “I want to congratulate my good friend Stefano (Comini). I don’t think he is faster than me on pure pace maybe, but he is the most complete driver in the field, also out of the track, he is a very relaxed person and he knows when to push, when to back off and even when to hit someone. He is great. I think Gabriele Tarquini is one of the best drivers in the world, for instance, but when I compare him to Stefano I think he is even better. Fantastic driver.”