Nikolay Karamyshev loses best lap and drops to the back

WTCC rookie Nikolay Karamyshev has lost all of his times from qualifying and will drop to the back of the grid for tomorrow’s races for missing the scrutineering bay when called.

The Russian driver is making his Championship debut for Campos Racing this weekend behind the wheel of the team’s SEAT León WTCC, and had qualified in a solid 16th position on his first appearance in the Championship. Unfortunately the Russian driver made a typical rookie error and drove past the red light when pitting for the final time during qualifying which signals the driver to stop in the scrutineering bay, and as a result has lost all lap times set up until that point.

His fastest lap time was set on his first run, which was a time of 1:44.138. As a result of the penalty he will start from the back of the grid for both of Sunday’s races once permission to start without having set a lap time is given by the officials.

Other penalties for the day include 250 Euro fines for bamboo-engineering’s James Nash and Münnich Motorsport’s Marc Basseng for crossing the white line at the pit exit during practice and qualifying respectively, whilst Engstler Motorsport picked up a hefty 1,000 Euro fine for cutting the seal on Charles Ng’s turbo without FIA consent after FP1.