Jean-Karl Vernay targeting win to keep title hopes alive

Jean-Karl Vernay won the first race of the weekend at Monza, Italy, despite losing the lead at the start. The Frenchman overtook rival Mikel Azcona’s Cupra on the main straight on the fifth lap and controlled the race to take the win. Despite this, the WRT driver says he did not have it easy.

“I won’t say I was confident after the start because I had to make sure I won,” said Vernay to TouringCarTimes. “When I saw the two Hondas and Azcona around me I braked late, but they braked even later and so I had to settle for fourth at the start as I had to cut the chicane. I was quite calm, I was behind Azcona and I was very surprised with the pace of the Cupras, but we were quick and consistent and with the long straights I was able to control the race. It was not easy, though, as the Cupra was quite fast.”

Vernay had some tyre issues which he needs to solve if he is to mount the challenge for tomorrow’s win.

“We are struggling with the tyres, so we need to understand that and rectify it, but otherwise I’m very happy for the sponsors and the team, who did a great job. We need to focus on winning tomorrow. I’ll never wish bad luck to the other guys, but if they have any issues a win would put me in a strong position. If they (Azcona and Dusan Borkovic) keep doing what they do then they will be unbeatable.”

As for tomorrow, the Frenchman believes he will need to be smart as well as aggressive, as he hopes safety cars will not interrupt his efforts to make progress from tenth on the grid.

“It can be quite difficult to go up the grid, there were a lot of safety cars today. I also need to improve my start, I will need to be aggressive but smart at the same time.”