Despite all the charms of Hungary, its good weather and pretty girls, the third weekend in FR 2.0 NEC Cup will hardly leave good memories for Dorian Boccolacci. The only consolation is that the Tech 1 Racing driver has limited the damage by staying in the fight for the championship, and is now 2nd a few points from the new leader.
“I have rarely met so many negative elements in a single race weekend!” Dorian said. “Nothing serious, no accident or breakdown, just a series of mishaps which, put together, made a bigger problem… That said, I’m not worried about the result, I now have enough experience not to let it get me down. That’s racing and we must never lose sight of the goal, no matter what.“
Dorian has not had the opportunity to implement his new plan to do well in Qualifying. Two long free practice sessions had nevertheless allowed him to hone his strategy and he increased his pace gradually until he was in 3rd position. The first session was disrupted by a pit stop and a red flag. To make matters worse, his fastest time was set aside for crossing the limits of the track, a barely deserved punishment which resulted in a modest 16th place for the start of Race 1. In the second session, Dorian posted the 6th time without being able to reach the best.
As if his 16th place on the grid was not enough, he was given a drive through penalty, along with his two team-mates for an issue during the formation lap where only the Tech 1 Racing drivers were penalised. The result was a 17th place at the finish line in the wheeltracks of Sacha Fenestraz. Race 2 could have been more interesting, but the performance was not really there and Dorian fought between 6th and 8th place at the end.
As his main rivals also had their share of trouble at the Hungaroring, Dorian hasn’t suffered too much in this series of misadventures and is very well placed in the provisional standings. No doubt the lessons from Hungary will serve him well in a return to form in the upcoming events, including the Eurocup FR 2.0 on the weekend of July 3rd on the prestigious Monza circuit.
Info Kartcom /© Photos Diederik van der Laan – Dutch Photo Agency