Sergey Afanasyev tops Salzburgring test session
Sergey Afanasyev was fastest in this morning’s test session at Salzburgring, Austria. The Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver came home ahead of team-mate Pepe Oriola, who had led most of the session.
Target Competition’s Stefano Comini finished third, almost four tenths shy of his fellow SEAT driver, with the third Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver, Jordi Gené, in fourth. Championship leader Gianni Morbidelli came fifth in his WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR.
Meanwhile, Monza star driver Fernando Monje endured a tough session as his Campos Racing Opel Astra OPC came to a halt early in the session due to engine problems. The Spaniard later jumped in the second Opel, as local driver Markus Östreich, a Nürburgring 24 Hours class winner in the Astra, handed it to him. The Austrian was invited to the test by Campos Racing.
Sergey Afansyev is very happy with the session, although he feels there is still room for improvement: “I’m very pleased with the session, it shows that little by little it’s coming together,” commented the Russian. “The car felt good and I am more and more acquainted with it. We still can improve it and there are a couple of places where I need to improve. This is a very challenging track, where I raced only once ten years ago, in Formula Renault, so it’s my first time with covered-wheel cars.”
Championship leader Gianni Morbidelli is happy to be quite competitive, and feels there is something more to gain: “Good session for me, I am happy with how things are going,” said the WestCoast Racing driver. “Of course, I feel the 30 kgs of success ballast, in the straights and the braking zones, but it is better than expected, especially on a demanding track such as this. I think we can still bring down lap times of a couple of tenths with some set-up adjustments but in terms of performance, we’re almost there.”
Action will resume tomorrow morning at 10.00 local time with Free Practice 1.
