Bruno Spengler: “It’s intense, it’s very different to everything I know”

Bruno Spengler made his FIA ETCR debut this weekend at Pau-Ville for Romeo Ferraris and the former DTM champion says he has still got a lot to learn.

“I like the ETCR, I enjoyed the fights and I like the competition,” Spengler told TouringCarTimes.

“It’s intense, it’s very different to everything I know. The car is very different to drive, there is a lot of adaptation on my driving style, so there is a lot to learn. I know it sounds strange, but I’m a rookie in this series!”

The Canadian worked hard to improve the setup of the Giulia ETCR throughout the weekend, praising the team’s efforts: “As a team we learned things for this type of track. The team has been improving day by day and a big part of the points we scored this weekend were down to the team being able to adapt very quickly.”

Spengler was not able to fight main rivals Mattias Ekström and Mikel Azcona for the victory this weekend, instead settling for third place to secure a podium finish in his debut.

“At the end we couldn’t compete with the first two, Mattias and Mikel, they were quicker than us,” explained the Romeo Ferraris driver. “We did the best we could but I think they were on a better level this weekend on this track.

“I’m quite satisfied with the points, I want to be able to challenge for P1, but let’s see in the next few races what we can do.”

Spengler expects there will be better opportunities to fight against his rivals on more conventional tracks: “We struggled more in this type of circuit because our car is a little bit bigger than our opponents’, but maybe on tracks that are different or a bit quicker in certain places we’ll be able to get closer.

“Let’s see, the future will tell, but I think this weekend we got better and better and we were able to improve.”

The Romeo Ferrari drivers praised the championship after his debut weekend, stating that he believes it will grow strongly.

“I’m very proud to be part of championship like this from the beginning,” added the Canadian. “It’s only the second year of the series, the first year of the world cup and I think the championship has massive possibilities to grow and there is no limit for a championship like that.

“When you see how much it has improved from the first year to the second year, the things that have been done and the show that has been put together, I’m very proud to be part of the first ETCR world cup.”