Mat’o Homola unhappy with contact at the start at Monza

DG Sport Competitions’s Mat’o Homola drove a strong race at the wheel of his Opel Astra TCR today in Monza, finishing in eighth position, which he declares was a disappointing result due to an incident at the start of the race with Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola.

The Slovakian had qualified in fifth on the grid, having improved in every session so far this weekend.

Some extra help was a factor in the Astra’s performance: “We made a lot of changes in the car before the qualifying. My engineer, with whom I was racing for seven years, came to help, he collaborated with all the team to improve the car’s behaviour, and that could be seen already in qualifying,” Homola told TouringCarTimes.

The start was chaotic for Homola, who almost ended up out of the race at the first chicane.

“In the race, I was pushed in the first chicane by (Pepe) Oriola,” he said. “I had a good start and gave him space, but he just pushed me and it was almost over, because I was in the gravel trap and fell to P14. Then I started to push like hell. I was going fast, the car was behaving well and I had a good pace. I tried to overtake cleanly and not lose a lot of time. At the end it was P8, and I’m disappointed, because I think that I could have been in the top five. But that’s just racing.”

Despite the race result, the Slovakian is hopeful for tomorrow, especially as the weather forecast could set a very different scene from today’s races.

“We showed our potential and where we can be with a good set-up. The car is getting better and better, and I hope in Race 2 we can get a better result. Tomorrow it could rain, and we’ve had some good sessions this year in the rain. I’m OK driving in the rain, the car is good in the wet, so let’s see what the weather will bring and hope for a better result.”