Pepe Oriola pulls off successful damage limitation in Bahrain
Craft-Bamboo’s Pepe Oriola finished the second race in seventh in Bahrain. The Spaniard had started from 12th after a tough qualifying session, but a good start and some fierce battles allowed him to score points, which was his goal ahead of the races in the desert.
“It was not an easy weekend for me”, admitted Oriola. “I managed to make some places up in both races and I stayed in the top four of the championship standings. Under the circumstances, with the issues I had and starting from so far back on the grid, I managed to take some important points for the championship.”
Oriola had been running as high as sixth, before a contact with WestCoast Racing’s Giacomo Altoé left him fighting to make up for the ground lost. The SEAT driver eventually finished seventh: “It was a very crazy race, with lots of contacts, but I’m sure the fans enjoyed our race, which leaves me happy.”
Jean-Karl Vernay now leads the championship on 52 points for Team WRT, with GE-Force’s Dusan Borkovic in second, one point behind the leader, and M1RA’s Roberto Colciago in third a further point adrift. Oriola is the highest-placed SEAT driver in fourth, seven points shy of Vernay, and six ahead of former championship leader Davit Kajaia.
