Photo: R-Motorsport

Daniel Juncadella: “We need more power to fight against our competitors”

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R-Motorsport had a difficult day at Misano, with Saturday’s race the first time in which no Aston Martin Vantage DTM finished in the points, with Daniel Juncadella their best classified driver in 13th place.

Their struggles started in qualifying, with all four cars at the back of the grid, only split by the WRT Audi of guest driver Andrea Dovizioso.

In the race, the Aston Martin Vantage DTM drivers showed promising pace in the early stages, but tyre degradation and the lack of engine power rendered the cars powerless to fight for points.

“I had a good start and, also after the safety car, the restart was good, and I managed to climb to ninth position,” said Juncadella.

“After my pit stop, I tried to keep up with Glock, but bit by bit the tyres lost their performance and there was nothing else I could do,” added the Spaniard, who eventually dropped to 13th place.

Juncadella thinks the team need to find more power as part of the car’s development: “We are lacking pace in qualifying and races, and we must find a solution to the lack of engine power to fight with the Audis and the BMWs. As far as I’m concerned, I’m satisfied with my race and performance.”

Paul di Resta had to retire from the race with mechanical issues, but echoed his team-mate’s feeling: “We were down on performance in the race. Of course, it’s hard, but we’re doing everything we can to solve the problems.

Team principal Dr. Florian Kamelger also believes the team still has a lot of homework to do: “Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for a points-scoring result for the first time this season. Ferdinand pitted for tyres just after the first lap, which then meant that despite putting up a strong fight, he eventually dropped out of the Top Ten with tyres that were degrading badly and Daniel in P13 was the best-placed Aston Martin driver.

“Today’s race has shown that we still have plenty to do. However, we will continue to steadily improve our performance bit by bit until we can compete up front,” added Kamelger.