Aurélien Comte: “Audi and Volkswagen will be tough to beat”
DG Sport Compétition’s Aurélien Comte believes the pace of the Audi and Volkswagens may be too much to compete with after the two manufacturers dominated qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Frenchman, driving a Peugeot 308TCR, will start Race 1 from fifth on the grid, while he is placed sixth for the reversed grid second race tomorrow.
Having topped the times during free practice on Friday, the Peugeots were outpaced by their German counterparts in qualifying, but Comte remains optimistic ahead of the races.
“I am quite satisfied but at the same time I know we could have done a bit better,” Comte told TouringCarTimes.
“We came out of it well and we’re happy with the way the Peugeot is performing. It’s going to be tough to beat the Audi and the Volkswagen but our car works well on most circuits. We have to be patient, but I’m sure our time will come.
“I’m happy with our performance in qualifying and where we are starting is not too bad either as we are well-place for both races to get a good result.
“I’ll need to get a good start and then that should give me the chance to have a good race as well.”
Following the red flag stoppage for compatriot Teddy Clairet in Q1, Comte admitted to struggling with low tyre temperatures on his first laps after the restart, which compromised his run.
“When the tyres cooled down after the red flags, it was quite difficult to re-find the limit and attack Eau Rouge. You only do La Source and then you’re straight into Eau Rouge and Raidillon, so with cold tyres, it’s not the easiest to get a good lap-time,” Comte said.
Comte believes the practice pace shown by the Peugeot gives them confidence of consistent race pace, but the Frenchman says his focus is on picking up points
“A lot of things can happen so we just need to take it race-by-race and focus on our job,” he added.
“For the first race, if we can make some ground and get onto the podium that would be great. But we need to pick up points for the championship as well.”
