Coelho takes first A-Main in South Africa
Bruno Coelho has taken the opening A-Main at the Electric Touring Car World Championship in South Africa. Qualifying second on the grid, the Xray driver immediately put the pressure on Top Qualifier Ronald Volker weaving left and right to try and find a way passed the reigning champion. A side by side drag down the straight was the first warning from Coelho but Volker had the inside line but just after the halfway mark Coelho got the inside in the corner before the chicane with the two cars touching. Once in front Coelho quickly established a comfortable lead eventually crossing the line 1.4-seconds clear. Behind, contact between Viktor Wilck and Freddy Sudhoff in the middle of the race played into the hands of 6th place starter Christopher Krapp. Getting by Alexander Hagberg in the opening corners, the Yokomo driver took advantage of a mistake from Wilck which resulted in him giving Sudhoff’s Awesomatix a body tuck for which the Serpent driver waited to give back position. Sudhoff would finish 4th with Wilck fifth.
‘A very intense final’, was how a much more confident looking Coelho summed up his A1 win. Top Qualifier at the Worlds in China 2-years ago but ending the finals 2nd overall, the Portuguese driver said, ‘I started very well. The car was very reactive and had good traction unlike the Warm-up Final when it was not so good. So I felt confident for the race and started to put pressure on Ronald. I saw he was having difficultly with his car and tried different lines to get around. We went side by side down the straight but he had the inside so that pass didn’t happen but then I was able to make a good pass and was able to pull away’. He concluded, ‘I hope the car is the same in the next final and I can challenge again and try to make it happen’.
Commenting on A1, a disappointed Volker said, ‘it was not a good run. I need a bit more pace’. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I defended as good as I can but he found a way to get by’. ‘Its two out of two now so I have to deliver and just give him no opportunities at all’.
‘A lucky third’, was Krapp’s thoughts on the opening A-Main but the Yokomo driver was very happy with the performance of his car. He said, ‘finally we got the car the way it should be pace wise. We improved it’. On his race he added, ‘I got by Hagberg in the 2nd or 3rd corner and was staying with the top pack and then Freddy and Viktor tangled which put me third. Then it was quiet to the end. I hoped something happened up front but it looks that Bruno made a clean pass’.
In the Formula World Cup opening A-Main, Top Qualifier Jan Ratheisky took an easy win. Behind the Xray driver the big battle was for second between Dominic Quek, David Ehrbar and Martin Hudy. Quick, Ehrbar’s race was full of mistakes and a challenge into the last corner saw contact with Hudy but crossing the line before serving a stop and go, Ehrbar was given a 10-second penalty. This meant Hudy got third behind Quek with Ehrbar fifth behind Florian Joos.
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