Interview
Verschoor ready to attack after positive Qualifying result in Melbourne
Richard Verschoor was happy to have qualified fourth in Melbourne after what he called a “messy” session, with the MP Motorsport driver now setting his sights on a big weekend in both races.
The Dutchman was in the mix throughout the 30-minute pole position shootout but says he struggled with traffic, which impacted his ability to generate tyre temperature on his out laps.
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However, on his final attempt of the day, Verschoor completed a 1:29.650 to put him up to fourth, finishing three-tenths off fastest driver in the session, Gabriele Minì – who has since been handed a three-place grid penalty for both races due to impeding.
With Jak Crawford – who qualified third – also having a separate impending 10-place grid penalty, Verschoor is set to line up second in Sunday’s Feature Race. But before that, he reflected on his Friday at Albert Park.
“Quite positive,” said Verschoor, looking back on Qualifying. “I am quite happy with the result considering the mess it was in Quali. I was struggling a lot because we were at the back of the queue, so I had cold tyres starting my lap.
“I really struggled to do sector one well, I think I was three-tenths off in sector one. Turn 1 was mainly the issue, so definitely a lot of time to be found there doing a normal warm-up. But nevertheless, quite happy with P4, a decent way to start the season.”
Given how tricky Qualifying turned out to be, Verschoor admits a higher Qualifying result could have been possible if he had followed a normal run plan.
Looking ahead to the races though, he is confident that between him and his MP team, they have enough to battle for the win on Sunday.
“Considering the issues that I had I'm happy with P4, but we still want more,” he said. “I know I am stronger in races. I think we have a pretty different compound of tyres, the Medium and the Supersofts are still there, but they have a little bit different behaviour is what we are hearing.
“The races will be interesting to see how they turn out and if we have a lot of deg. So it will definitely be interesting during the race tomorrow. I think I am starting P6 in the Sprint, so I need a good start and it's going to be an exciting race.”
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On his mindset heading into the weekend, Verschoor said: “I am definitely going for it. I know it's early and I know that it's all about the long term, but if you start to drive carefully it usually goes wrong.
“So, I am just going to go for it, and we’ll see where we end up. I am confident in the team also that usually we have a very good race car. So, it's up to me now.”