Jordi Gené upbeat after positive weekend in Portimao

Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Jordi Gené scored the most points in Portimao and put his championship charge back on track with a pair of podium finishes at the Autodromó Internacional do Algarve.

The 44-year-old is now up to fourth in the standings, just one point behind WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli who failed to score this weekend, and 26 adrift of series leader Stefano Comini.

“It’s been a very good weekend,” said Gené. “The car was a bit damaged after the accident in Valencia, and my confidence was also damaged because in the first three races something happens every time. We had some mechanical problems in the first two races, and then we had the accident in Valencia, so every time something happened, so to have a double podium in a weekend is a good achievement as this championship is very tight.”

As a result of scoring the most throughout the weekend with 37 points gained in the championship, Gené will have to carry the maximum success ballast of 30kg in two weeks’ time at Monza, but reflected positively on the penalty.

“For those reasons, I want to be heavy every race,” he said to TouringCarTimes. “I think I have good pace, but it’s very difficult because all the drivers are very fast so to have a double result like this is very difficult in this series. This gives me a bit of confidence back and after a result like this I can see the front-runners again.”