Due to the robust nature of Santiago Urrutia’s first lap overtake in race one, Honda’s Esteban Guerrieri was less than pleased afterwards in the Adria Raceway paddock.
From the outside, most would probably agree that there was little for the Argentine to be irked by however, given the physicality of touring car racing in general. Urrutia seems to share that viewpoint.
“It was a normal overtake,” the Uruguayan said. “I know he was leading the race but we are in touring cars, we see a lot worse overtaking than this.
“I just dived to the inside. He knew I was going for it, so he shouldn’t have closed the door, but okay, I understand his position. I know what I did and he can think what he thinks.
“But at the end of the day I won the race, and I believe the overtake was in a good position and a good move. So yeah, I’m happy. I think it was a strong weekend for the team.”
Indeed, it was a strong race for Urrutia and Cyan Racing, and according to the driver himself, a finely-calculated one too.
“I knew already that the Hondas would be better than us at the start,” he revealed. “So Esteban did a better start than me and I was P2. I knew that after two or three laps on the tyres I would not have the grip to overtake, so I took the chance and I went for it.
“Leading the pack was not easy because I had to push at the beginning, but I could control the race and finally I got the win, so I was pretty happy. Big points for the team as well, so I think it was a good race.”
Up next, Urrutia and the Cyan Racing team will be heading to the Sochi Autodrom, as Russia gets set to host this year’s FIA World Touring Car Cup finale.
Urrutia’s Lynk & Co stablemate Yann Ehrlacher will be looking to retain the championship title that he won for the first time last year, and so it will be all hands on deck at Cyan Racing to make sure that happens.
Urrutia will as ever be part of that team effort, and is one of few drivers on the grid who will be able to bring some experience of the track with him, albeit very little.
“In 2014 I’ve been there, but it was a long time ago in GP3, so I don’t know how it will be,” he explained. “I think our car is good pretty much everywhere we go, but I think we’re going to gain a bit of compensation weight because we were on pole position here, so we will see.
“It’s the last round, I think everything is looking good, we just need to bring it home. I hope that we can finish the job that we’ve been doing all season.”