Stefano Comini says that he really enjoyed the second TCR Europe race at Circuit Paul Ricard, where the Swiss racer came away with a tenth place finish having started from the very back of the grid.
Racing a Subaru WRX STi, the two-time TCR International Series champion made up nine positions on the first lap alone, even though he admits that his start was not good enough.
“We saved the weekend a little bit for sure,” said Comini to TouringCars.Net. “I enjoyed the first part of the race a lot – it was very hard in very hard conditions.
“It’s very good for me personally and for Subaru. It’s something that helped us, and Race Republic gave me a perfect car with a perfect setup for the rain. It wasn’t a rain setup, it was a normal setup – a dry setup!
“I did a good start but the thing is, with this car and with the new mapping from this year for the BoP [Balance of Performance], we had a little bit of a problem with the start.
“In the second race I didn’t start well honestly – I was last and then I was even more last at the first corner! I decided to brake as late as possible in the first corner, and I thought that everybody was on the formation lap again! It was crazy. I had a crazy feeling, and I really enjoyed the race.”
Despite scoring a strong finish in race two, having made up 15 places over the course of the race, Comini was critical of the driving standards of some of his competitors, who made contact with his Subaru.
“Some drivers need to be more careful, because it’s one thing to go side-by-side, door-to-door, and it’s another thing to be pushing [front-to-back]. This is not touring cars.
“It’s hard racing for sure, but the problem is that they did it for the whole race. I was hit a lot from [Cedric] Piro on the apex, and it destroyed my tyres. I did all the race with the steering wheel not straight – it was crazy.”
Regarding his continued participation in the series with Subaru machinery, Comini would not be drawn on how his plans for the year are evolving, merely stating: “You will have some updates in the next week.”