Yann Ehrlacher admitted that he was lucky to have won the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race of the weekend at the Hungaroring, after front row men Norbert Michelisz and Esteban Guerrieri clashed on the first lap.
The Frenchman started the race in fifth but immediately got past the Hyundai of Thed Björk at the start after the Swede failed to get off the line well.
He then found himself in the pound seat at Turn 2 as Münnich Motorsport team-mate Guerrieri made slight contact with BRC Racing’s Michelisz, pushing the pair and Gabriele Tarquini wide and opening up the door for the lead.
“You know when you are on the starting grid, you look at the guys and think that maybe they can have a big crash altogether and I can be P1,” said Ehrlacher to TouringCars.Net. “That’s one of the best things that can happen, and I was lucky enough that it happened this time.
“After Turn 1, when I saw the three guys together, I thought that something could happen. Maybe not all three at the same time, but it happened like this, and I was ready to jump in.”
Although the win moved Ehrlacher up to second overall in the championship standings, eight points behind leader Tarquini, he insists he is not looking at the overall title yet and is taking each race as it comes.
“Honestly, I’m just focussing on doing my job as best as I can, to be at the front as much as possible, and after that I will collect the points rewarding the work that I do.
“I’m not thinking in qualifying about being just in front of Gabriele, I let these [thoughts] go and I just work the same all the time and I collect the points.”