Hugo Valente takes blame for clash with James Thompson

During the first lap of the opening race Hugo Valente hit James Thompson from behind, causing the Münnich Motorsport driver to spin and hit the inside barriers. As a result the Lada driver was given a drive through penalty, after which the Frenchman retired due to debris in the wheel arch.

“I didn’t get a perfect start, but all Ladas struggled to get off the line,” said Valente to TouringCarTimes. “I managed to keep second but my aim was to take the lead. When James Thompson braked I was caught by surprise because he started slowing down really early, but for sure it’s my fault, I’m not putting the blame on him at all. I am really sorry, he is a great guy and I didn’t want to ruin his and my race.”

While caught out by the different braking point, the Frenchman also says he couldn’t avoid the Chevrolet in front of him because cars are braking and turning at the same time before the second corner, where the accident happened: “I could not avoid him because if you are braking in a straight line you can always try to avoid the guy in front, but the car was loaded to the left before the corner and I couldn’t avoid him. It’s a shame because although I don’t think I would have won the race, but a podium was very easy.”

The Frenchman also explained why he tried to push before the drive through: “I knew I had a drive through, the stewards would have had to be blind to not punish me. I tried to open a gap to try and emerge from the penalty still in the points, but I ended up thirteenth and at that point it was impossible to overtake. I also picked up debris, so we just took it off and I went back out to check if the car was okay. At least I won a watch as I scored the fastest lap.”

James Thompson was sad for the team after he spun: “I was more sorry for the boys than for myself really, they worked so hard to give me a very good car and then we were out on the first lap. It’s a shame but sometimes these things happen, especially on street tracks.”

The Brit tries to see the bright side of his performance, although it only really lasted for two corners: “I did the best I could, kept the lead from pole position and I was hit when I was in first, so that’s as much as I could do. I obviously can’t control other people, so I take the positives out of the situation and keep smiling.”

When informed of Valente’s view on the incident, Thompson stated he had the right to brake earlier and the Lada driver should have been more cautious: “To be honest I was in front and being the leader of the race I could brake wherever I wanted. It was the first lap and you aren’t at full speed when you have just started the race, but that’s not the point. I believe it’s a lack of self-discipline really, because he (Valente) did not think he had 21 laps to put pressure on me or try to overtake. I don’t want to get into a discussion with him, because it wouldn’t change anything, but I appreciate him acknowledging he made a mistake.”

Hugo Valente will start from eighth after Nicky Catsburg was penalised for a similar incident with Volvo’s Thed Björk, with Thompson also promoted up to ninth ahead of Gabriele Tarquini.