Hugo Valente is hoping his Campos Racing mechanics can do “incredible things” to fix his damaged Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1.
Valente crashed heavily during Free Practice 2 for WTCC Race of Argentina and fears he might be forced to sit out Sunday’s 13-lap contests unless his team can carry out extensive repairs in time.
The rising French star, who blamed the crash on a suspected brake issue, said: “I stay optimistic but it’s not looking very good. There is damage to the side of the car and with the car going on fire it’s bad. But my team did incredible things at Salzburgring last year to fix the car so never say never.”
Of his crash, Valente added: “It was [the] brakes. I was coming down the long straight, the fastest part of the track and the [brake] pedal went completely to the end and there was no sign of the braking. I was trying to slow the car down and the engine was screaming a lot and when I got onto the gravel I tried to turn the car so I would not have a head-on crash. My neck hurts a bit and I have a cut in my leg but my trainer Patrick is here to look after me.”
Valente was 10th fastest in Free Practice 2, once place behind Campos Racing team-mate John Filippi.