WTCR – Race of Portugal Race 2 press conference transcript

WTCR – WTCR Race of Portugal – Race 2 press conference transcript

Attila Tassi, Jean-Karl Vernay, Norbert Michelisz, Tiago Monteiro attended the press conference following Race 2 at WTCR Race of Portugal. A transcript follows.

In attendance:
Attila Tassi (ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport), first position
Jean-Karl Vernay (Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team), second position
Norbert Michelisz (BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse), third position
Tiago Monteiro (ALL-INKL.DE Münnich Motorsport)

Q:
Congratulations Attila, your first WTCR win.

AT:
Thank you very much. Yes, it was not so easy to achieve it. First I am really disappointed again that we are not able to stand together on the podium with Tiago as we are speaking about it for so long now. After he had the problem I don’t know how many laps we had, but it felt like it was going on forever. As I had a radio problem I didn’t have any information of the pace or anything, and then I saw the Hyundais were catching up really quick so I was only focusing lap by lap on my exit on to the main straight and the back straight to not give them an opportunity. Each lap I was concentrating 110% and in the end it finally paid off, so I’m very happy. Thank you for ALL-INKL, for amazing work, for Honda. It’s just an amazing weekend.

Q:
Jean-Karl Vernay was putting on the pressure and it was fun to watch.

AT:
Yeah, we had this back in 2017 in the TCR International series, we were fighting for the championship. We just spoke about how it is coming back to those days when at each race we were fighting bumper to bumper. But it’s fair racing, so I’m very happy and I really enjoy it when we are racing with each other.

Q:
Your last TCR race victory was in Barcelona, Race 1 in 2018 in TCR Europe.

AT:
Yes, it’s very far back! It’d definitely a good motivation for me for the future and good points for the championship.

Q:
Exactly what I was going to say. You’re now up to P4 in the standings.

AT:
Wow, it’s a surprise, I was not counting on this, I was always focusing to bring out the maximum from me and my car that I can, and I feel like I managed to do it today.

Q:
Jean-Karl, congratulations – the yellow hat is back on!

JKV:
Yeah. Like I said earlier, I feel sorry for Tiago, he deserved to win today. He managed everything in race one, race two he was easy leading and I don’t know what happened to him but that’s a shame when you are losing a victory like this. But I have the yellow cap and I won’t refuse it! In my position we tried to do the best we can in race two. Attila defended really well. I just tried a few times, but after the tyre puncture in race one I didn’t want to take any risks and risk another DNF, so we can be happy with P2. We showed a strong pace and now we are going to see at MotorLand Aragón. Leading the championship after two rounds is quite nice, so let’s keep focused.

Q:
That’s a very smart Goodyear #FollowTheLeader jacket, I’m very jealous!

JKV:
Yeah, it’s like when I was going to high school!

Q:
Norbi, a good clean race for you, you kept yourself out of mischief and suddenly you are up on the podium. How was that for you?

NM:
First of all, congrats to Attila. I think it’s a good reason in Hungary to celebrate today because he did an amazing job. Of course, a shame for Tiago but in the end it is how it is. The important thing is we also managed to do a clean race, which was also my plan in the first one! But I didn’t really manage to do that. But in the end for me it’s a good base to build confidence because the car was working great in the race. Happy with the podium and very, very happy with how we approached the race weekend. We managed to improve the car session by session and in the end it’s a long time for me not being on the podium and to come back it’s a fantastic feeling.

Q:
How do you feel the car is going to fair in Aragón?

NM:
I don’t know because it’s the third race so we’ll probably have some compensation weight that will come into play. For me I really don’t think about the championship. I really want to build confidence because the first couple of races were not really ideal for me. I still think we have a good package, probably not to win races every race weekend but I want to score points. For me I’m happy with P3 and I would have been happy with P5, P6 or P7 in race one because for me this invisible points-scoring finishes will make the difference at the end. My target for the rest of the season will be to do clever and clean races and then to score points. It’s impossible to tell where we will be in Aragón, but I have a good feeling so I’m confident that we can finish inside the top 10.

Q:
Tiago, there are no words. That was incredibly bad fortune. How are you?

TM:
It’s character building, isn’t it? First of all, I’m really, really happy for Attila. We’ve spoken about this moment for a long time and every time we are about to be on the podium together something happens, so really congrats and well done to you guys as well. And for the leader, back in the lead! But I would have preferred a different way of course. I had a good start and Esteban had an issue, but I was really aiming for a good first lap and first braking. But he made my life easier. And then everything was going well – too well. So it was not meant to be, but the championship is long and the good thing is we have a strong package, we have a good car. Of course the Balance of Performance will start to come into play, but it was important to score all those points. It’s a very unfortunate, stupid mechanical failure like this, it’s really annoying. It’s not acceptable almost at this level of championship, but anything can happen and you cannot blame anybody. I’m very disappointed and frustrated, but it’s not the first time for me and my career. I’m sure tomorrow I will have forgotten about it and just focus on the next races. Whenever we will be heavy this is when it will be important to score good points and as I said the championship is still long and those guys are well aware that until the last few races nothing will be decided. The good thing is we can all fight and we’ll keep that to the end. For tonight it will be a hard one to swallow and accept. Tomorrow will be another day.