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| April 2, 2012 | |
| NOT MUCH LUCK IN VALENCIA | |
| 01/04/2012 - Alberto Cerqui did not have much good luck in Valencia (E), theatre of the second round of the FIA WTCC 2012.
ROAL Motorsport's driver set the thirteenth time in qualifying on Saturday (1'43.889) just missing on Q2 that would have allowed him to aim to the pole position of race two due to the inversion mechanism. The young driver from Brescia had a solid race one as he fought since the beginning with the quick and experienced Stefano D'Aste (BMW). The two produced an exciting but also correct battle lasting until a few laps to the chequered flag that saw Cerqui ending thirteenth, that is sixth in the Yokohama Trophy. Race two last instead less than a lap after a good start allowing Cerqui to recover several positions. A bumping from a rival in the heat of the start put the BMW 320 TC of the young Italian driver sideways before being hit by a rival behind him. Retirement was unavoidable at that point, as the regret for a chance gone. Alberto Cerqui: "In qualifying and in race one I had some problems under braking probably due to the brakeforce distribution system and I often locked. This happened especially in Q1 and probably this had an impact on the weekend as with just 4 hundreds of a second less I would have got into Q2 and things could have gone the other way around. In race one the nice duel with D'Aste was tight for most of the race: in some occasions I could have tried a bit harder but I decided not to run risks to preserve the tyres and get to the flag. In race two I had a very good start but the contacts that followed put me out of the games". In the Yokohama Trophy Cerqui is now sixth at 12 points, 19 shy of the leader Pepe Oriola (Seat). The FIA WTCC will be back on track next 15 April on the street circuit of Marrakech (Morocco). | |