Jean-Karl Vernay has praised the overnight efforts of Team WRT after piloting his Audi RS 3 LMS to second in the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race in Slovakia.
Vernay, who started an improved fifth after exclusions for three of the Hyundai i30 N TCR machines ahead in qualifying, capitalised on the bottleneck effect at Turn 1 after pole sitter Gabriele Tarquini bogged down to claim third on the road.
That then became second after a bold move to the outside of Turn 3 on Aurelien Comte’s Peugeot 308, giving the Frenchman the inside for Turn 4.
Though the 2017 TCR International Series Champion tried to close the gap to eventual race-winner Pepe Oriola, he had to console himself with the runner-up spot.
“I had a great start. I was close to overtaking Pepe but it was kind of risky so I stayed behind,” explained Vernay to TouringCars.net.
“On the second lap I overtook Comte on the outside which I think was a pretty good move. I’m really happy about the race, the car was really consistent, the team worked very hard last night to make some changes for a consistent car with all the weight we have and it worked. #
“We just used the positive points of the car. I knew I was not making any mistakes in sector 2 and it would have been difficult for Gabriele to overtake me.
“That was the key: no mistakes. I’m really happy and really proud of all my guys, the sponsors and Audi of course. We are doing the best work of the others and this is something we can be really proud of. We have good qualifying to do and a good Race 2 and 3 before taking some holidays!”
The weekend continues with the second qualifying session at 14:10 BST.