The first outing of Stefano D’Aste’s PB Racing in the World Touring Car Championship resulted in an exciting weekend that is really encouraging for the following races.
After qualifying in twelfth position, D’Aste topped the wet warm up on Sunday morning. The Italian driver crashed during the first race, but the team managed to repair the car for the second one, in which D’Aste was able to finish ninth, scoring two championship points.
“It has been an exciting weekend. We kicked off the programme only three weeks ago, with a limited budget, but the team have a big heart! In qualifying we were able to advance to Q2 and then I was fastest in the wet warm up. It’s a shame that I crashed at the exit of the Ascari chicane in the first race; I was fast, but some mud on the track was enough for me to lose the car and hit the barrier. I thought that was the end of the weekend, but the boys performed a miracle and finished repairing the car ten seconds before the end of the repair time… The car was critical to drive, and it took me two laps to understand its reactions, but it worked and I wanted to do my best to thank the team. Finishing in the points and the best BMW driver was great!” said D’Aste.