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Jean-Karl Vernay happy with better-than-expected result at Monza

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Team WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay overcame unfavourable odds to finish Race 1 at Monza in fourth position, despite the lack of straight line speed of his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

The Frenchman qualified seventh on the grid, and was surprised about being able to move forward, nearing the podium at the end after Pepe Oriola ran into trouble in the first of Craft-Bamboo’s SEATs.

“I didn’t expect at all to be fourth today,” said Vernay to TouringCarTimes. “It was a tough race from the beginning. I made a good start and was able to avoid all contacts, which was key. We then were pretty quick and I tried to stay behind Pepe to get the slipstream. The two Hondas were fighting, so I was able to stay in contact in case anything happened at the end.”

The Team WRT driver chose a different set-up to his team-mate, series newcomer Jaap van Lagen, in an attempt to optimise the Golf GTI TCR’s straight line speed: “We don’t have stability problems in the rear, so I chose to carry less downforce in order to gain some top speed. We gained some km/h and the car behaved very well.”

Rain is forecast for tomorrow, and Vernay thinks it could be beneficial for the team: “Last year we showed we are good in the rain, this year, with a new tyre compound, we had a few problems in Georgia, but that’s something we have to look at and see the set-up. But rain is usually good for us so, if it rains, then we can get a better result.”

The Frenchman now has a 24-point lead over Roberto Colciago in the standings, but refuses to see himself as a favourite for the title: “The BoPs change things sometimes and it’s not always easy to score points. For instance, we knew that Monza would be terrible for us and I was thinking to maybe score four or five points here, but I got 12 already. Stefano is a great racer, has a lot of experience, so he’ll be there, and so Colciago. Tassi is also quick. We are looking at not making mistakes, but there are four or five drivers that I can see being up there.”

“I don’t focus on that too much, I can see that if we continue to be third or fourth in every race, get a result, score points, we can be champions or be really close,” concluded Jean-Karl Vernay.