Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Jordi Gené declared himself happy with his results in the TCR International Series at Monza, after claiming a podium and a points finish to remain in championship contention.
Gené scored the highest points haul of the any of the Craft-Bamboo Lukoil drivers, taking fourth in the opening race of the weekend before finishing second to the fast Honda of Gianni Morbidelli in race two, despite having started from third on the grid.
Gené went into the weekend off the back of a strong performance last time in Portugal, where the Spaniard took a double podium finish. As a result of being the highest scorer there, he went into the races in Italy carrying the maximum 30 kg of success ballast.
“I am happy with my weekend,” said Gené. “It was typical Monza, with a tow strategy for qualifying and very exciting races on Sunday, and I am happy with my results considering I was carrying 30 kg ballast.
“With a fourth and a second place I scored lots of points and a podium finish also helped the team in the championship standings.”
Gené explained that it was impossible for him to stay at the front of the pack in an extremely competitive race two, where he ultimately had to yield to the dominant Morbidelli.
“In race two I had a good position but it was impossible to stay ahead without tow. Fernando [Monje] had a good car and I couldn’t stop him from overtaking me, but it was important to stay with the pack, so I didn’t lose too much time, and I was able to do so.
“I still managed to keep in touch with the group and then I used the slipstream, and it paid off. I just wanted a good bunch of points and I found myself on the podium, which was great, because we were absolutely not the favourites for this race.”
Craft-Bamboo Racing’s CEO Richard Coleman was pleased to have scored strongly at a circuit he knew would favour the Hondas, although he was also critical of the amount of contact, with the team’s third car of Sergey Afanasyev also ruled out of race two due to accident damage in the first race.
“We knew the Hondas would be strong here and they were, but all three of our drivers did a fantastic job this weekend and two podiums is a great result,” said Coleman. “However, it is disappointing once again that we were prevented from collecting the points we deserved with contact that is easily avoided.”