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NEXTEV disappointed to end day pointless

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It was a day of unfulfilled potential for the NEXTEV TCR team in Punta del Este, as a penalty for Oliver Turvey dropped the Englishman out of contention, while reigning champion Nelson Piquet Jr’s race came to an untimely finish in the barrier.

Qualifying saw an improvement in pace for both drivers, with Turvey starting on the fifth row of the grid in tenth, while Piquet lined up directly behind his team mate in 12th.

Off the line, Turvey dropped a position to 11th and from there ran strongly, keeping in touch with a potential points finish. However, an error from the team meant that the Englishman was released from his pit stop two seconds under the minimum time of 59s. Inevitably, the stewards issued a drive through penalty, putting pay to any chance of claiming a top ten finish.[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I think we would have finished top ten, which would have been a good result for us today.” [/pullquote]

“It was a disappointing race after a strong qualifying session,” said Turvey. “To start inside the top ten was a good achievement and the best result of the season so far. At the start we seemed to lose a bit of ground to the guys ahead and dropped a position.

“After this I was able to keep on the tail of the guys in front until we pitted on lap 16. The driver change was one of the quickest we have done all season but unfortunately we left the pits a few tenths of a second too soon so I was given a penalty.

“It was disappointing to get the penalty as without it we would probably have got a points finish.”

On the other side of the garage, Piquet was able to manage his energy and pit later than the rest of the field, leaving the Brazilian with a good chance of scoring points.

Towards the end of the race, Piquet became embroiled in an intense wheel-to-wheel battle with the DS Virgin Racing car of Jean-Eric Vergne. Halfway around the final lap, the reigning champion lost the back end and slammed sideways into the wall, with Vergne doing well to avoid the incident.

“When Vergne made a move on me, he went a bit wide so I was able to pass him back,” explained Piquet. “We touched wheels and on the next quick left-hander I lost control of the car. I’m not 100% sure what caused it, something may have broken when we touched wheels, but the car just snapped and I made contact with the wall.

“It’s a shame that it happened right at the end of the race. Tomorrow we have a full day testing and we will keep pushing for improvements.

“We saw in the race what we’re still lacking but also where we have improved. The whole team wants to keep moving forwards, so everyone is working very hard.”

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Image courtesy of FIA Formula E Media

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About Topher Smith
Topher is an experienced and passionate Motorsport journalist with Formula E, Formula 1, GP2/F2, GP3 and IndyCar all on his resume. When he isn't at the trackside you can find him furthering his own capabilities and knowledge through his endless search for original ideas and material. Also plays league pool.