Photo: TCR Media

Hugo Valente says he took no risks in first Bahrain race

Hugo Valente finished second in today’s race in Bahrain for Craft-Bamboo. The SEAT driver managed to overtake pole-sitter Pierre-Yves Corthals, but race winner Roberto Colciago had a better getaway and jumped into the lead.

“I was quite happy with my start but I know the Honda is always very strong off the line”, said the Frenchman. “I don’t have a lot of experience yet with this car and we couldn’t practice starts yesterday.”

After the start the Lukoil-backed driver tried to overtake Colciago for the lead, but he realised he had to concentrate on bringing the points home: “Roberto (Colciago) managed his tyres well at the beginning of the race, he made a mistake but I made a few too. I maybe could have overtaken him, but it was too risky and I need to score points for the championship, so I cooled down a bit and he was just too fast.”

After he tried slowed down his pace, the race was not as intense for the Frenchman: “After that, I was looking in my mirrors and also enjoying watching the big TV on the straight. I think tomorrow will definitely be more exciting and I’ll be looking for another good result for the team again.”