STR hope that engine gremlins are behind them

After a disastrous weekend at the Slovakiaring, Special Tuning Racing head to the Hungaroring hopeful that the engine issues that plagued them last weekend have been resolved.

The problem effectively began in Marrakech, when brake failure saw the team’s driver Tom Boardman crash out at Turn 7, causing severe damage to the car and writing off the engine. Thankfully Boardman was uninjured and back at the circuit after a short visit to the hospital.

Fitted with a new engine for Slovakia, and in a re-shelled SEAT León, things went wrong in Free Practice 2 when the new engine failed. With SEAT Sport just able to fit a replacement engine in time for qualifying, Boardman took to the track again but the replacement engine also faltered.

A third engine was installed overnight and the team worked with SEAT to diagnose the problem, treating the warm up and the first race as a shakedown before joining the battle in race two, finishing 18th after starting last.

With no problems experienced on Sunday, the team are hoping to go on full attack this weekend after effectively losing two weekends due to damage and engine issues. The team served their two engine change penalties at Slovakia after starting last on the grid.

“This is obviously very frustrating for all involved,” said Boardman. “Not knowing fully the cause of the failures makes it all the more difficult. Both SEAT Sport and our team have worked very hard over the weekend to fix it and for that I am very grateful. I am sure the changes that were made for Sunday will enable us to run properly in Hungary next weekend.”