Fernando Monje apologises for holding Chevys up in Q2

Fernando Monje took pole position for the reversed grid second race at Marrakech tomorrow after his Campos Racing team were able to repair his car and get him out for one final lap, though that came to the detriment of Yvan Muller and Michel Nykjaer, who both lost time on their final laps in qualifying.

The 20-year-old had set the 12th fastest time in Q1 which got him into Q2, but had damaged his suspension which required the Campos Racing team to repair the car in the short time between Q1 and Q2. With James Thompson and Tom Coronel unable to take part, it was vital for the Spaniard to set a lap and set the tenth fastest time, which would give him pole position for the top ten reversed grid second race on Sunday.

“I feel really sorry for both the RML guys and Michel Nykjaer because I blocked their laps but my aim was to go as fast as possible,” said Monje to TouringCarTimes.

“I actually thought we had to cross the line without the chequered flag and to do full a lap to be able to be P10, so even though I had broken suspension I tried to push as hard as I could. Of course they wanted me to let them pass, I did what I could but I couldn’t stop completely to let them pass and lose that time as I really needed to get a soon as possible to the line. I actually crossed with the chequered flag but I still got last position because even though I didn’t do a full lap I did at least more than Thompson and Coronel, so I’m happy to start P1 tomorrow.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow, where Monje will start ahead of his team-mate Pepe Oriola and the two Münnich Motorsport SEATs of Marc Basseng and Rob Huff in the reversed grid race two, with the five Chevrolets starting behind, the reigning European Touring Car Cup S2000 champion is optimistic of a good result in the standing start race.

“I’m really excited the first time starting on the top, I’m quite confident as well as the first BMW is actually 11th or 12th, so if I do a decent start I feel like I could be P1 after the first corner. It’s a good track to start on the pole, because it’s really tricky to overtake, so my job will be to do a good start and then keep a good pace and try to be there (at the end).”