Photo:

Alain Menu says drive-through unjustified, after Race 1 contact with Denis Dupont

By

Hyundai driver Alain Menu said his drive-through penalty for a starting incident at Zhejiang with Comtoyou Racing’s Denis Dupont was unjustified, laying the blame on Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Aurélien Panis for the incident which saw him hit Dupont’s SEAT and send him into the wall.

Dupont’s first TCR International Series race effectively lasted not even one corner, after his León was destroyed in the contact with the barriers.

The collision came about after Menu was squeezed between Dupont’s SEAT on the right, and Panis’s Honda on the left, as he launched off the line in the new i30 N TCR.

“I was disappointed with the drive-through in Race 1,” said Menu to TouringCarTimes. “I don’t think it was justified, I was just minding my own business. From where I stood, Panis was closing the door, but why? If the guy behind you starts faster and he’s going through the gap, you have to accept it.”

Dupont left the circuit disappointed after his TCR debut was curtailed in the impact, with the chassis too damaged to be repaired for Race 2.

“I just got hit by Menu in the Hyundai who’s way lighter than the rest of the field,” said Dupont to TouringCarTimes. “Because of that, he has a good start and pushes me in the back and I couldn’t do anything.

“The chassis is damaged and it was quite a hard impact,” he added. “You can see they can overtake everybody easily, so they could have taken a bit more care at the start, as it destroyed his race too as he also got sent to the back.”