M Racing’s Nelson Panciatici lost his second place after a drive through penalty. As the race was over the penalty was converted to a 30 second time penalty, seeing the Hyundai i30 dropping down to tenth.
After braking too late, hitting car number 26 of Jessica Bäckmann, Nelson Panciatici received a subsequent drive-through penalty. As the decision was made by the stewards after the race, the penalty was converted to a 30 second time penalty.
Nontheless the 30-year-old rated his race as a good one. “Even if my start was not so good, I was able to recover my position after turn one and was able to stay in third place along the way. Then, the two cars in front were fighting and I managed to profit from it, jumping to second place.
Despite his potential to finish on the podium, Panciatici claims looks at things realistically: “The gap to the front is really big, in fact, the first place was out of reach. In additon, we are just at the beginning of the weekend.”
Having made his way through single seater racing as well as prototypes, Panciatici is mainly working on his learning curve regarding his new race car Hyundai i30. “After a long time with LMP cars, I was looking for a new challenge”, he explained. “And when I had the chance to join TCR I took it. I am still learning a lot about the car but up to this point it’s been a good start to the championship.”
The M Racing driver is expecting a hard race tomorrow. “I start in sixth position and the race will be a hard one for sure. But if I have a good start I am confident to make it to the podium”, he told TouringCars.net