Photo: TCR Europe

“Nothing I could do to avoid Davidovski” says Olli Kangas after Race 1 crash

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WestCoast Racing’s Olli Kangas says there was nothing he could do to avoid the spinning PSS Racing Team Honda of Viktor Davidovski on the first lap of the TCR Europe series Race 1 at Barcelona.

The incident happened as Davidovski spun his Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR coming through the fast Turn 9 right-hander, with Kangas’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR making contact.

Both drivers were forced to retire on the spot, and the safety car was deployed as a result.

Davidovski was critical of Kangas in the incident, saying that the Finnish driver needed to be “more clever” on the opening lap of the race.

“It was really crowded on the first lap and you must know as another driver, that you cannot win the first on the first lap. You must be clever but Olli hit me.”

Kangas disagreed with Davidovski’s view of the crash and said there was nothing he could have done to avoid the contact.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Kangas said: “I was nearly able to get past him but my right front rim hit his rear bumper after he spun in front of me.

“He came back across the track and there was nothing I could do to avoid hitting him.”

Kangas also lamented an engine change grid penalty, a legacy from the previous round at Oschersleben, which he believes masked the true race pace of his Golf GTI TCR.

The Finn also missed valuable track time on Friday after suffering a misfire in FP1 and setup issues in FP2.

“It’s a shame because actually the car was handling really well. Gianni said that the car was very different from yesterday, so at least we can be positive going into the second race tomorrow,” Kangas added.

“It also shows how important it is to get a good result in qualifying because we had much work to do in this race, even if mine lasted only nine corners.

“Tomorrow, Gianni starts 21st and me 23rd, so I hope that we can pull each other forward. I think the top ten for me is possible for Race 2. I have pretty much the same setup as my team-mate and he believes the car is a lot better in the race.”