Jean-Karl Vernay was delighted to score his third win of the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) season in Wuhan, with the victory proving to be especially sweet due to the difficulties the Audi driver experienced just one week earlier.
In the first of two Chinese race weekends in Ningbo, Vernay and the WRT Audi team endured a ‘nightmare’ weekend, taking away no points and losing ground in the title battle.
But the Audis were on form on the streets of Wuhan less than one week later, and Vernay stormed to pole position in Saturday qualifying before following it up with a faultless lights-to-flag win.
The victory has elevated the Frenchman up to fifth in the drivers’ championship standings, 48 points away from the leading Hyundai of Gabriele Tarquini.
And as well as Vernay’s win, the Leopard Lukoil team had double cause for celebration as Gordon Shedden brought his car home in third to make it a double podium.
“With a good car and a good team I was able to make a good lap in qualifying,” said Vernay. “I guess it started from there and I just had to manage a good start, making sure I would still lead after the first corner, and then just focus on my driving, being consistent and making no mistakes.
“The track is tricky during the race because if you have a lack of concentration there are so many marbles on the outside line you can go directly into the wall. So I just tried to keep focused until then end.
“The car was great, so that was a little bit easier for me. I was just trying to understand a few things I need to work on for qualifying tomorrow.”
Vernay is hoping to keep the momentum going throughout the weekend to further close the gap to the championship leader in Sunday’s races, with the prospect of a big points swing after none of the Hyundai drivers finished in the top ten on Saturday.
“I couldn’t have hoped for a better result after the nightmare of last week and I’m really glad for the team, the guys.
“Now we have to make sure we are out front again, together with Gordon. It’s a great team effort.
“This is a good opportunity for us to come back a little bit in the championship to fight with the Hyundai guys. We will just try to do our best. This is our main target for tomorrow.”