Friday’s Collective Tests showed Egor Orudzhev and Aurelien Panis had incredible pace. Between the two of them they were amongst the top 4 on the timing sheets. Collective Test 1 ended with a red flag, Orudzhev finished P2 with a 1:17.782s, and Panis finished the session in P13 with a 1:19.056s.
Aurelien: “It was not an easy weekend again but still two top 5 results and some good points scored. My pace in the race was not as strong as comparables, but we managed to score points for the championship. At this point mid-way through the season it's still very close for the Championship, so it will be important to come back stronger after the holidays!”
Egor: “The Practice sessions went quite well. We were just finding the right set-up for Qualifying so the pace was not always at its best. So in the end Qualifying always been strong.
Race 1 started well as I moved into the lead. I couldn't make a gap from Nissany as he was quicker but we made a massive distance to the rest of the field. So everything was going fine and I did not have much trouble keeping him behind me. On one of laps he had a good exit out of Maggots & Becketts and used DRS to close the gap. He made a very late move into Stowe. I saw it too late and decided to try to keep the lead around the outside and left him space to be inside. But he still made contact so we spun and my race was ruined.
Sunday went OK; again with good pace in Qualifying, then keeping third place for the first lap. Then I was on my own for the rest of the race. I was clear from rest of the field but not able to keep up with the leaders pace. It was a little disappointing, as we lost 25 possible points but we will keep on pushing and trying to get as more top finishes as we can.”
Photo credit: www.dutchphotoagency.com