Mat’o Homola says Hungary proves Opel not just fast on quick circuits

Mat’o Homola has moved to challenge perceptions that the Opel Astra TCR is only competitive in a straight-line, after the DG Sport Compétition car showed good pace at the technical Hungaroring circuit.

After initially qualifying fourth, before a paperwork error saw his Opel sent to the back of the grid, the Slovakian then went on to work his way through the field to finish in tenth in Race 1, almost doing the same in Race 2, going from the back to 12th position.

“We’ve been working on the set-up as we knew the Astra was not so good on the technical circuits, and for the first time I felt really good in the car here,” Homola said to TouringCarTimes. “I was very fast here and on the limit of the car, and I don’t think we could do more.

“(In Race 2) I had quite a good start…I tried to overtake some guys when there was the crash, and I overtook about three cars before that into the first corner.

Homola soon caught up with the Team WRT Volkswagen of Rob Huff, who had been involved in the first corner incident, but the Golf driver proved hard to pass.

“We didn’t have the pace of Rob, but when we came up to (Stefano) Comini, he was the widest car on the track, and thanks to him I was really close to Rob. I used everything that I had and was very aggressive – we had some contact and he touched my wheel, so my toe was completely out. I went off the track a bit as my car wasn’t turning right and I got a warning.

“I wanted to be in the points again, but I think on this circuit, it was impossible, and Comini was ‘unovertakeable’.

“We showed to all in the paddock that the Opel is not just fast on the fast circuits. Everyone’s complaining about the speed of the Opel, but here it’s a technical circuit, so the top speed isn’t key. You have to have a really good, balanced car, and we showed that in the race that this is working – I had a good set-up and good feeling in the car and I think this is really promising for Oschersleben.”