Target Competition’s Reece Barr described his sixth position in race two of TCR Europe at the Hungaroring as a “consolidation race” after he failed to finish the opening race due to last-lap contact.
The Irish racer was keen to score points in the reverse-grid race yesterday [8 July] following disappointment in race one as he was forced to retire after contact with Mikel Azcona and Stefano Comini at turn one on the final lap.
He told TouringCars.Net he was happy to bring home a solid points finish after struggling to bag results in previous races.
“It was a good race – it was just a consolidation race to be honest – I didn’t want to take too many risks,” said Barr. “The car was a bit understeery because it was pretty hot out there.
“Apart from that I got an OK start, the two Hondas got a better start than me, because I got a bit of wheelspin on the inside. So apart from that it was just managing the whole race to get a decent points finish, I didn’t want to take too many risks as well.
“The Honda seemed to have a fair bit of pace throughout the race, but we’re looking good for Assen next time.”
At the line, Barr was just half a second adrift of Francisco Abreu’s Peugeot, who had led early on before dropping back.
Barr said that although opportunities to overtake did arise, he was content to finish sixth and take the points after the race one DNF.
“I saw when [Attila] Tassi overtook him it was a bit elbows out, bumping and stuff,” he said.
“So I knew if I went for the move that probably would have happened and then god knows what could have happened so I didn’t want to take that risk too far so I thought I’d take sixth, I was happy enough with that.”
With the Hyundai’s well-suited to the Hungaroring layout, Barr was pleased with the pace all weekend, and feels confident for Assen but believes the Hyundai will struggle at Monza.
“I feel the Hyundai will be strong for the rest of the year, obviously BoP is going to play a part in that with Monza after Assen it’s going to be a tough one for us because obviously our straight line speed is not great still.
“The Peugeot is still really strong on the straights and so is the CUPRA. But it’s still looking good for Assen so hopefully we don’t get hit with bad BoP and it should be a good equal rest of the season for all of us.”