French fellow countrymen Yann Ehrlacher and Jean-Karl Vernay are confident heading into tomorrow’s qualifying session and first race after leading the way in practice, even though both drivers have run into a few dramas this weekend.
Ehrlacher’s Geely Cyan Racing team had to repair his Preface car after a contact at the end of the first session with Evolve Racing’s Bayern Yip Wai Hei, but the reigning champion bounced back at the end of Practice 2 on his new tyre run to set the fastest lap of the weekend.
Vernay’s challenges were more of logistics, as he and his SP Compétition teammate Aurélien Comte only arrived at the track 15 minutes before Thursday’s shakedown due to a delayed flight.
“It’s not been a smooth day,” said Ehrlacher. “The boys did an amazing job to repair the car, and in FP2 I just had five minutes to put new tyres on at the end after an early issue. I’m very comfortable with the car, the balance is very nice, there’s some things we can do to optimise still, but the track is amazing, so it’s all good.”
Reflecting on his contact with the Hyundai of Yip in the first session, Ehrlacher added:
“I ran out of talent in the last sector. It was not on purpose, I just didn’t see him, it was my mistake, I went to apologise and it’s all good.”
Vernay meanwhile was happy with his pace in only his third weekend of the season, after missing most of the European leg of the championship due to injury.
“We arrived a little bit late due to an issue with the plane, but it’s been a good day overall. I’ve enjoyed this track and it helps for me that nobody knows the track and so everybody starts from zero. The car feels really good, we still have to make some improvements, and I also need to make a big step on my driving after five years out. The level is really high, and I’m still getting used to the Kumho tyres. Today the pace gives me a bit more confidence before qualifying tomorrow, and my target this year is to be ready for Macau. Let’s see what happens when everyone pushes in qualifying and whether we need to play for the reversed grid.”
Picture: WSC/Paddocker
