Pepe Oriola surprised himself with his pole lap in Thailand

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola was surprised to score pole position in Thailand after a mistake on his first lap meant his best time was set on his second lap on new tyres, but the SEAT driver also benefitted from a tow from Gianni Morbidelli’s WestCoast Racing Honda Civic.

The Spanish driver, who sat out testing on Friday to allow a foot injury sustained in training to heel, was quick throughout the day in practice, but left it to qualifying to show his true pace, setting a time of 1:43.634 on his first lap in anger in Qualifying 2 to secure his first pole of the season, and in doing so move two points ahead of Leopard Racing’s Stefano Comini in the drivers’ standings.

“I was just focussed on not doing any mistakes, but I wasn’t pushing really hard either, and it just came together,” said Oriola to TouringCarTimes. “I was following Gianni to just get some tenths because after Q1 I didn’t think I was going to go much faster, but from Q1 to Q2 I was eight-tenths faster.

“I’d made a mistake in Turn 1, so I let the group pass me and then I just pushed on my second lap to be sure to get into the top five…when I did the lap the team said I was P1 and the time. I thought it was a 1:44.6 but then no, I realised it was a 1:43.6, and thought OK, this might be good.”

Three-times a race winner this season, this is Oriola’s first pole position of 2016, and his first since Valencia in May 2015.

“After all the bad luck I’ve had this weekend and that the team has had, I’m very happy to get this pole. My objective was to get a pole this year, so there’s no more worry about getting poles,” he added.