Miyata eager to improve in Qualifying after another comeback drive in Monte Carlo

Ritomo Miyata produced another strong comeback drive to score points in the Monte Carlo Feature Race, finishing sixth around the Principality.

The Hitech driver missed out on a place in the top 10 in Friday’s Qualifying, ending up sixth in Group A, over two-tenths away from P5.

However, Miyata was at his battling best in the Feature, moving forward at the start, getting up as high as second in his first stint.

The Japanese driver then pitted right before a Virtual Safety Car and was running fifth in closing stages. However he lost a place to Martinius Stenshorne at the penultimate corner on the last lap following a multi-car battle that included Kush Maini.

After finishing sixth, Miyata said: “Firstly, big thanks to the team because they made a good call for the pit stop and our last strategy was good.

“It’s just that we are missing some quali performance because here it is very important. But again, we scored points and we gained positions at the start, so it's positive.

“We always stay calm and stay focused on our processes. I was just focusing on my racing with the team. The last lap we were fighting and I was trying to gain a position. Of course in the end I lost a position, but it is what it is. Anyway, we scored points. It's positive.”

Miyata and Hitech as a team have yet to qualify in the top 10 at any of the four rounds this season, but the Japanese driver is confident that if they can turn that around they can fight at the front.

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“I would say there is mixed feelings,” said Miyata. “At first, in Melbourne and Miami we used the Supersoft compounds in quali. So, I felt a bit of a struggle with that, and also, in Melbourne, there was a red flag.

“So that penalised our strategy, and that's why we struggled in quali in Melbourne, but Miami was a different story. Anyway, even with that, we need to improve.

“If we can improve, that means we can fight for a much better place, we can start from a much better place. Even P10 would be okay.

“So we need to improve the short-run performance. We need to keep our good race performance as well. So we need to improve our short runs.”

Despite the disappointments in qualifying, Miyata says he is enjoying his time working with Hitech.

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“The most important thing is we are always running on track,” said Miyata. “This is very good because we never have any issues or problems on track. “So it's good. It’s positive, very positive and it will bring more confidence.”

Miyata is keen to take that confidence forward into the rest of the European calendar and he hopes that their qualifying improvements come fast so that they can fight at the front.

“I want to take pole positions and win races,” said Miyata. “The Sprint and the Feature Race, of course. But it's really challenging, and the key point is always consistent results. It's already interesting and I'm ready for fighting.”