Gianni Morbidelli denies playing tactics to get Race 2 pole

Gianni Morbidelli finished qualifying in tenth place earlier today at Valencia, Spain. The WestCoast Racing driver will therefore start from pole position in Race 2, but he categorically denied playing any tactics to start from the front in the second race come tomorrow.

“That would have been a mistake, you can’t control it, especially with such a short gap compared to the opposition. I just pushed, did my best and ended up tenth,” stressed the Honda driver.

“I did not have the same feeling as I did yesterday, and to be honest I am quite concerned over our race pace tomorrow. It doesn’t feel how it should at all.”

Morbidelli had a small problem with his engine, but not enough to match the front runners’ pace: “I think the engine problem we have could have cost us a couple of tenths, but it’s nowhere near the gap we have from the SEATs. The León Racer is just quicker and, if I have to be honest, I can feel all the 65 kilos I have on board with me this weekend.”

The Italian does not think he will easily win tomorrow’s race, but he will do his best to keep his rivals at bay: “Today I lost 5 points from Pepe Oriola, 4 from Andrea Belicchi and 3 from Stefano Comini, who is in the lead now. It’s not the ideal situation, if I had the chance I would have pushed to start at the front.

Of course the Race 2 pole position will help, but if I keep on being one second slower it’s not going to be easy to keep my rivals behind me. What I am sure of is that I will give it my best to bag as many points as possible. If we manage to solve a few problems we experienced today then we will be able to try to do that. At the moment that’s my main focus, we need to improve the car for Race 1 because I have to limit the damages.”

Having entered the Valencia weekend leading the championship, Morbidelli has now slipped down to second, with Stefano Comini ahead of him by one point.