After two wins in a row at Imola and the Red Bull Ring, the Thiriet by TDS Racing was plagued by bad luck but the team is keeping the lead of the championship! The qualifying session took place on atrocious tracks, with pouring rain. Moreover, drivers were only able to run two laps because several red flags cut the session. Despite the conditions, Mathias Beche managed to secure a fourth line on the starting grid. Pierre Thiriet was in charge of the start. The team chose to start with intermediate tyres, the track was drying but remaining very tricky. He took a safe start and managed to maintain his position. Unfortunately, just after the first corner, an opponent spun in front of him. He couldn’t avoid the impact and had to come back to the pit to change the damaged front cover as well as the splitter.
The temperature of the track was so low that the intermediate tyres could not heat. Pierre, wasting time on the track, was called by the team to change tyres. The task was tough, Pierre had to compose with the traps of the traffic but he did it with success! Throughout his stints, he gained positions and the Thiriet by TDS Racing was back to the 9th position.
After two hours spent in the car, Pierre passed the wheel to Mathias Beche. As usual, the Swiss driver set very fast laps and finished the race in the 6th position.
This great catch up enables the Thiriet by TDS Racing to keep the lead of the championship but it has to share it with another opponent. Since the beginning of the season, the Thiriet by TDS Racing has held a series of podiums and wins. The grand slam couldn’t be achieved on the Hungaroring track! Never mind, the team is now focused on the last meeting which will take place on 27th and 28th September on the Paul Ricard track. The one target will be the title!
Mathias Beche : “There are ups and downs in sport car racing. We had a rather difficult week-end. We have to deal with it and not forget we had two weekends with two wins! At the start, a car spun in front of Pierre, he couldn’t do anything…He had to come back to the pits to change the splitter as well as the front cover. That cost us three laps and the race was over! Moreover, he started with intermediate tyres whereas our opponents chose wet ones. We were not rewarded by this option because I think it was too cold to run them! That just increased our gap with the lead of the race. Finally, we managed to secure points with the sixth position but we were caught up in the lead of the championship. Only one target is remaining: to win at Paul Ricard. It is a track we know well and where we had good results. We have to fetch this title!”
Pierre Thiriet : “It was a complicated race. We took the wrong decision with the tyres. I started with intermediate ones because I thought the track was about to dry. But the wet tyres were definitively a better option. Moreover, in the first corner, I had an incident that made me waste time and lose confidence. However, I went on with the intermediate tyres and when we made the right choice in the second part of my stint, the pace was good. That is the positive aspect. With this sixth position, we are neck and neck with our opponents. Everything will be decided at Paul Ricard, it will be a great challenge! We would have preferred to have a few points ahead, that is obvious, but in two weeks, we will have only one wish: to be ahead of them we will do everything to achieve it.”