A very lively Trofeo Pirelli Race 1 at Spielberg produced thrills which went right down to the wire. We collected the thoughts of the protagonists occupying the second and third steps of the podium alongside winners Michelle Gatting and Christian Brunsborg.
Luka Nurmi, second place in Trofeo Pirelli: “It was a tough race, especially as I had some slight technical issues before the start. Luckily we had enough time and the mechanics managed to sort things out. During the race, Michelle Gatting was very fast and I was struggling to keep up with her. Towards the end, a tyre problem slowed me down and all hopes of catching my opponent faded. I am happy with the result, although I obviously would have preferred to win. Tomorrow I will do my best and try to take the triumph.”
John Wartique, third place in Trofeo Pirelli: “I had a good start and as usual, I tried to give it everything from the very beginning, while attempting to avoid any collisions, which I think was important. I snatched third position and from that moment I got into a battle with Michelle and Luka. To tell the truth, the gap was quite substantial, but when the Safety Car entered, the group re-bunched again: at that point I tried to take advantage of the situation to overtake Luka, but I was unable to. I am very satisfied with my car and with the pace I was able to keep, even if keeping up with the top two proved to be really tough. For tomorrow I’ll be hoping for rain as I love driving in the wet! ”
Sergio Paulet, second place in Trofeo Pirelli Am: “The race was really hard and the battle with Hugo Delacour was a demanding one. On every lap I was very busy defending my position rather than trying to gain places. Hugo then managed to overtake me, but while he was busy battling with Christian Brunsborg, I was able to get back in front of him and stayed focused to keep hold of second position until the end. This was the first of the two races of the weekend and I am aware that tomorrow the drivers will be faster and therefore I will have to work even harder.”
Marco Pulcini, third place in Trofeo Pirelli Am: “It was a pretty difficult race as I was unable to find the right pace at the beginning. I saw that the other drivers were battling up ahead of me so I decided to sit it out and in the end Hugo Delacour made a mistake, so, of course, I took advantage of it. I am very pleased and tomorrow I hope to do even better.”