Andrea Belicchi praises team effort

Andrea Belicchi missed out on pole position by less than a tenth in Qualifying at Valencia, Spain. The Target Competition driver is not bitter about that though, as he did not expect to be so close to the front.

“I’m not disappointed because I was not in a good shape yesterday,” admitted the Italian. “I have to say we achieved a very good result, as my team-mate is in third as well, which shows the talent within the team. They gave me a perfect car and I used in qualifying. I did not expect to be second on the grid, especially considering the 20-kilos ballast I have to carry, but I also got some help from (team-mate) Stefano (Comini).”

Belicchi does not think it will be impossible to pass, and that during the closing stages of the race the fight will be ignited by the tyre degradation, which is expected to be an important factor in Valencia: “The race will be a bit longer here, so I don’t think I will have to play all my cards at the start. In this series we have a lot of big fights and the tyres will play a crucial role, so I think that in the last five laps the race will be very exciting. One must be careful not to damage the car while fighting, so that when the opportunity comes you are there to take it.”

Speaking of rival Honda driver Gianni Morbidelli, Belicchi is adamant the Honda driver targeted tenth to claim a reversed grid pole position: “Gianni was clever to play his cards and start from pole position tomorrow, I think he showed a good pace yesterday so he played tactics. With a bit more weight at the front due to the DSG gearbox we are likely to suffer from a bit more degradation compared to the opposition, so we will have to take that into account.”

After scoring four points in Qualifying the Target Competition driver is still third in the championship, although the gap from the front is reduced to 10 points as team-mate Comini climbed up in the lead.