Two steps forward, one step back

The first race weekend of the new Renault Clio Cup Europe season is behind me, a weekend full of ups, downs, and mixed emotions.

On Friday, I completed two solid free practice sessions, finishing in P3 and P4. However, I had an uncomfortable feeling in the car, as if it wasn’t the same car with the same setup I had driven just two weeks earlier during testing, when I was the fastest driver on track on both days.

I decided, together with my team, to go through various aspects of the car and potentially make some set-up changes. That’s exactly what we did, and on Saturday morning we went out to qualify for Race 1. It worked, the car felt like it self again. The changes we made significantly helped me regain full control and confidence in the car.

I can say I delivered a very strong qualifying session. P4 is, of course, not my goal, but I faced a challenge I had anticipated. In Clio Cup racing, slipstream plays a huge role, especially when chasing the fastest lap. For those who may not know, slipstream is when you have another fast driver ahead of you on a flying lap, reducing air resistance on the straights and allowing for higher top speed. Naturally, having three or even four cars working together in slipstream creates an even bigger advantage. The GPA team, led by reigning champion David Pouget, executed this perfectly. Throughout the entire 20-minute session, they ran together, constantly providing slipstream and extracting the maximum. Still, my P4 achieved without any slipstream or assistance, purely through precise and aggressive driving, just three tenths off pole position, had to be something to be satisfied with. I knew the race would be a completely different story.

Race 1 didn’t start ideally. My former team mate Gael Castelli tried everything possible to overtake me in the opening lap. I defended hard, driving defensive lines throughout the entire first lap and managed to hold position. In that battle, a significant gap opened between me and the GPA trio. At one point, I was 2.5 seconds behind Pouget in third place. Anyone who follows this sport knows that 2.5 seconds is an eternity, especially when all cars have equal performance and the main difference comes from the driver.

 I started my charge towards the podium. I knew I had the pace, but this was also a psychological battle, who would crack under pressure first. Pure speed is crucial in this sport, but without consistency, it doesn’t mean much. In this race, I managed to put everything together: fastest lap of the race and the best race pace of my career so far. My laps were so consistent that in the second half of the race, I managed to get right on to Pouget’s rear bumper and erase the entire 2.5-second gap that the GPA drivers had built while running together in slipstream and without battling each other.

Unfortunately, I then faced another issue. The closer I got to Pouget, the higher my engine temperature climbed. At one point, it reached 108°C, and any chance of attacking disappeared. Due to the high engine temperatures, I was losing a lot of speed on the straights and had to settle for fourth place by the end of the race.

For me, this was still a big success, P4 at the season opener and my best race so far are a strong indication of what’s to come. However, after the race, I experienced another shock. During the post-race weight check, it was found that my car was 3 kg underweight. This resulted in an automatic disqualification ,and I lost valuable points. Unfortunately, this time it wasn’t a mistake by my team. What happened was a major injustice and an organizational oversight, which was later confirmed during the weekend. I’ll talk more about that soon.

The next day, I tried to leave everything behind. New qualifying, this time P5. Gael Castelli slotted in between me and the GPA drivers, which I knew would impact Race 2. A mistake on lap five dropped me from P5 to P10. Still, with strong pace and despite recurring engine temperature issues, I managed to fight back and finish P6. As a consolation, I set another fastest lap of the race. It’s proof of the speed I had this weekend, despite all the challenges, which is why it’s frustrating that the final result doesn’t reflect the true picture.

But that’s part of the sport. The team is already working hard on preparing the car fort he next race. I will use all the injustice and bad luck from this weekend as extra motivation for what lies ahead. I can clearly see significant progress in my driving, and that’s what makes me happiest.

I truly believe the best is yet to come!

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