Aurélien Comte: “It was key to manage the tyres”

SP Compétition’s Aurélien Comte picked up a podium result in Saturday’s Race 1 at Valencia, after finishing third in challenging hot conditions.

“The race was good, for sure, but lucky day for the team because I don’t know what happened for Mikel and Yann,” Comte told TouringCarTimes. “I’m sorry for the guys, but yeah, the race was good, but it’s very difficult to make overtakes.”

A key issue on Saturday at Valencia were the high temperatures, a factor coming into play for the race strategy.

“The track is very hot, so we have a lot high temperature on the inside,” the Frenchman explained.

The most important strategic factor for Comte was tyre wear.

“It was very important to manage the tyres – for me, it was the key of the race, and as I said, we had to manage until the end.”

After the first race in Valencia, Comte lies sixth in the championship with 60 points, 20 behind Geely’s Santiago Urrutia.