After mixed fortunes at Oschersleben last weekend, Luca Engstler is setting his main focus on the championship fight. Despite a set back in qualifying as well as an early finish to the first race, the M1RA driver experienced a conciliatory ending, moving back up to second in the championship.
With qualifying being one of the key factors for a successful weekend, M1RA’s Luca Engstler experienced his first setback after initially posting the 11th best time in Q1, being then unable to drive in Q2.
“Due to a technical problem, I couldn’t start so it was P12 for both races,” said Engstler. “In the end this means that you are in the middle of the pack, fighting against other drivers who are not fighting for the championship so they take more risks.”
Looking back to the first race, Engstler needed to stop his Hyundai i30 after ten laps when he picked up a puncture.
“I was quick off the line, jumping into the Top Ten. Obviously, I got hit and was taken out of the race with a puncture. Scoring zero points, falling down to P4 in the championship.
“That was particularly frustrating, keeping in mind that we arrived being second in the championship standings.
“I also knew that we would mega strong here in Oschersleben. I was expecting a Top Five result with the speed we had.”
The post-race penalties have been without effect for the 19-year-old.
“Even if that gave a different picture of the day, it didn’t help us. At the end of the day, we were still fourth in the championship standings.”
For the second race on Sunday Engstler aimed to “finish the race and score some points.” The M1RA driver started from 12th on the grid and recovered to finish seventh.
Despite his Target Competition competitor Josh Files taking third, further stretching his leadership to a lead of 78 points, Engstler moved back into second place.
The ambitious German knows where he want to be. “I am always aiming for a successful weekend. Above all, the top stop in the championship is where I want to be”, concluded the 19-year-old Engstler.