Mixed fortunes for Pepe Oriola in Valencia

Pepe Oriola won his home race in Valencia, Spain, but had a harder time in the second heat. The Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver dominated the first race in his SEAT León Racer, but his second race was spoiled by a drive through penalty for overtaking under the Safety Car.

“Race 1 was easy,” said Oriola. “I had a good start, while Stefano (Comini) made a mistake, so I had the first corner all for me and managed to open a gap right at the beginning. I had a two or three seconds advantage for the entire race, so I could manage the tyres, also knowing that I had my team-mates behind me, which is a different kind of pressure compared to having someone else behind.”

The Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver praised the performances of the team, as the red and white cars monopolised the podium: “The team did a great job, Sergey (Afanasyev) and Jordi (Gené) made little mistakes here and there in qualifying, otherwise I think we would have been able to score a 1-2-3 in qualifying as well. It was perfect, well done to Craft-Bamboo Lukoil!”

Oriola is convinced that a 1-2-3 was possible in Race 2, but the penalties and Gené’s accident prevented them from delivering the result: “I think we had the speed to repeat ourselves in Race 2, but Jordi had an accident at the start and then there was a complete mess under the Safety Car, which triggered penalties. Once the stewards give you a drive through penalty there is nothing you can do, you just have to take it. It would have been better if they waited until the end of the race.”

Oriola now sits fourth in the championship, 19 points off leader Stefano Comini.