Turvey feels Vergne contact may have contributed to lock-up

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NEXTEV TCR’s Oliver Turvey had his best race of the season at his home event in London on Saturday, but it ultimately ended in disappointment as he locked up and hit the wall while running third. He felt earlier contact with Jean-Éric Vergne may have caused damage that led to the lock-up.

Turvey was aided by the rain in qualifying third, and had a strong first stint in which he was able to maintain that position with lots of battles going on behind.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”When he (Vergne) caught me, he was very aggressive, drove into the back of me a few times, and hit me very hard into turn 11, nearly pushed me straight on and did I think quite a lot of damage to the rear of the car. I need to look with the team and see how that damage contributed as the car didn’t feel the same after that.”[/pullquote]

“It was a good race, I had a good start and was able to hold third. The first stint was going well, I was able to get in a good rhythm and slowly pull away from the guys behind, but I saw they went one lap longer. We had a good stop and came out still in third, but the second stint was more of a struggle for us on energy. The safety car didn’t help us as it closed the gap to those behind.”

However once DS Virgin Racing’s Vergne got behind him at the restart, Turvey’s race took a turn for the worse.

“When he (Vergne) caught me, he was very aggressive, drove into the back of me a few times, and hit me very hard into turn 11, nearly pushed me straight on and did I think quite a lot of damage to the rear of the car. I need to look with the team and see how that damage contributed as the car didn’t feel the same after that. On the next lap I had a rear lock-up into turn 15, which I hadn’t had all weekend, so it was very unusual and couldn’t quite make the corner. A disappointing way to end the race.”

The British driver was nonetheless proud of his and the team’s best grid slot of the season, which was a big bonus for the squad that has struggled with its powertrain this campaign.

“I always aim to qualify as high up as possible. I think with the weather in London you can never know what to expect! […] I did my best lap of the weekend in the qualifying session so I’m happy to qualify third.”

He hopes he can repeat the feat tomorrow, although he knows that will be tougher to achieve if the weather conditions are good.

“I’ll be giving it my best to be up there. If it’s a dry qualifying throughout, it’ll be tough to be third. […] Hopefully we can get a good position in qualifying and hold it in the race.”

Laurence Thorn | e-racing.net
Interview by Topher Smith and Bethonie Waring

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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda

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