On its maiden appearance in the World Championship, James Thompson’s LADA Granta Sport impressed many people today at the Hungaroring.
The Russian car improved from the 19th fastest lap in the first practice (1.7 seconds off the pace) to 9th in the second practice (1.4 seconds off). In Q1 Thompson set a promising 1:56.527 on his first lap in Q1 and then stopped on the track with mechanical problems.
“We had fuel feeding problems. The engine just stopped running, but there were no major technical failures. We are happy, because the car was faster at every session. Obviously we need a lot of testing, but the first impression was really good,” said LADA Sport teal principal Victor Shapovalov.
Thompson was equally impressed: “I think the car exceeded our expectations. It was amazing, considering that we had completed only a few laps before today. The second free practice was a good representation of the potential of the car. In qualifying I made a good safe lap, but a very safe one. I think that with two more runs we could have probably made the top ten. The car is very well balanced; the engine is very drivable, the chassis is a very good starting point. Both of them we can fine tune to close the gap very quickly. Especially if we can work without being under the pressure of a racing weekend.”