Philipp Eng: “We have the best start position for tomorrow”

M1RA Romeo Ferraris driver Philipp Eng qualified in second place for the ETCR Super Final B at Pau-Arnos and the Austrian is confident ahead of the race.

“It was very good fun,” Eng told TouringCarTimes. “The time trial is always the highlight of the weekend, as we just put 200 kW more in the car, which is more power and is a bigger challenge. When you look at the onboards you can see see the drivers fighting to get the last of the lap time out.”

The Austrian finds the ETCR qualifying setup different to other touring car categories he has raced in: “So it was very different from, for example, qualifying in the DTM with the Class One cars, where you have to be very precise and very clean. But here you just need to take the car in your hands and drive it like you stole it,” explained the Alfa driver.

Points leader Mattias Ekström has been fast all whole weekend, but Eng came very close to the Swede during the time trial and believes he could have been even faster: “The Cupra has a slight advantage over us and for the weekend we just move forward with the setup and work but they were just faster today.

“My first sector wasn’t ideal and I think I could have taken a bit more risk in the first two corners,” added Eng. “But I think P2 is the best starting position because we start in the middle, so there is more rubber, so I’m counting on a good start and getting ahead and controlling the race, because I have nothing to lose in the championship so I’ll try to win.”