Tom Boardman is disappointed with how his Monza race weekend went after failing to open his points scoring account for the season during the opening two races of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship.
The British driver arrived at Monza with no pre-season testing at the wheel of the newly liveried Special Tuning Racing SEAT Leon and thus the two free practice sessions became his first track time of the 2013 campaign and he finished both sessions 14th fastest.
Qualifying ahead of the opening rounds saw Boardman hold 14th yet again until the final minutes of the session where he was bumped down to 18th before recovering to 14th, which became 13th after the LADA Granta cars were withdrawn. Boardman finished the session 0.070s off 12th and the second part of qualifying.
The rain arrived for race day and round one of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship started behind the Safety Car and once the race went live, Boardman was soon working his way up the order and into the top 10.
With a lap to go, Boardman saw his first race ended with a broken sub frame and drive shaft after contact with the bamboo engineering Chevrolet of James Nash. Boardman had gone to pass on the outside and the subsequent damage left the #22 SEAT Leon stranded on the circuit.
The damage meant that Boardman had to start from the pit lane and he recovered to 15th before spinning down to 17th position after hitting a curb. He recovered to 16th and secured 8th in the Yokohama Independents’ trophy.
“I am hugely disappointed with the result of this weekend, yet am encouraged by our performance both on and off the track,” explains Boardman.
“My race pace was good and I am also very pleased with the way that the team worked to get the car fixed for race two. We have to concentrate on those positives and I am looking forward to getting to Marrakech where hopefully I will also have luck with me as well”