Fuel miscalculation almost cost Target drivers podium results

A miscalculation by Target Competition for the first race at the Salzburgring almost cost Stefano Comini and Andrea Belicchi their podium finishes, as the two drivers were forced to back off during the final laps to ensure their cars could make the finish.

Comini had qualified third but moved up to second at the start and was challenging Kevin Gleason’s WestCoast Racing Honda throughout the first race, while Andrea Belicchi worked his way forward to grab third with two laps to go from Jordi Gené’s Craft-Bamboo Lukoil SEAT, but both were forced to reduce their speed in the final laps in order to finish the race.

“We had made a mistake, because the team thought that the race was 11 laps, but it was 15, so the last five laps I needed to manage to fuel,” said Comini to TouringCarTimes. “During the last four laps I had a lot of problems, and it was bad because in the first corner and in the third sector I was faster than (Kevin) Gleason, but with this I had to go slower and it was very difficult to manage this and to finish the race.”

Belicchi’s fuel problems seemed less of an issue for him in race one, battling until near the end with Gené’s SEAT, but in race two, it was someone else’s oil problem that undid what was a certain second place finish for the Italian.

“Like Stefano I also suffered with low fuel, and Gianni and Jordi were catching me at the last corner, but I was happy to finish on the podium again,” said Belicchi. “In the second race I went off on the oil (of Markus Östreich). I was really close behind Michel (Nykjaer), so I didn’t have a good view, I just saw it was a little bit more dark and then discovered it was oil, but at least I was able to control the car and finish the race.”

Comini’s second race was also eventful, with the Swiss driver up to third from eighth on the grid at the first corner, but with clear reason as it was judged that the 25-year-old had clearly jumped the start and was given a drive-through penalty, which meant he would go on to finish the race in eighth position.

“In the second race, I did the first jump start of my career. With the launch control, we have a little time from when you go, but I didn’t time it right. After that, my start was a little like on a Playstation. I also had problems with a shit DSG, I locked the tyres when all the gears went down to first gear at the first corner, so I needed to set it to D. This is a problem for us as we need something that’s more professional on our car like (Honda’s) sequential box.”