Making up 13 places from 19th to sixth, Théo Pourchaire put on a phenomenal performance in Sprint Race 2, and he says he did it all with an issue on his car.

The Frenchman admitted after the race that the car was “really hard to drive,” despite his mechanics doing an “incredible job” to fix it in time following his crash in Sprint Race 1.

Pourchaire was running in seventh when he lost control of his ART Grand Prix at Turn 22 and thumped the wall in Sprint Race 1. It left him to play catch-up in the second after his team raced to get the car ready in time with less than six hours separating the two races.

“I am really pleased with this result,” said Pourchaire on his P6 placing. “The start was really good. I managed to avoid all of the chaos and gained a lot of places. From there, I did some good overtakes, including one super good overtake on Enzo Fittipaldi.

“It was chaos everywhere. I managed to avoid everything. (Felipe) Drugovich was in front of me when he made a mistake at Turn 22, and then (Liam) Lawson crashed at Turn 13, just in front of me, but I avoided everything.

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Pourchaire charged from 19th to sixth in Sprint Race 2
Pourchaire charged from 19th to sixth in Sprint Race 2

“We had an issue with the car, unfortunately. I don't know what the issue was, but it was really difficult to drive the car, and it was due to the crash this morning. The mechanics did an incredible job and I want to thank them again, but we had an issue, so I did what I could and I am really pleased with P6. I finished the race in the points and that is the most important thing.”

Pourchaire will revert to his Qualifying position of P3 for the Feature Race on Sunday afternoon with his eyes on a third win of the season.

Lining up behind PREMA Racing duo Robert Shwartzman and Oscar Piastri, Pourchaire will take confidence from his overtaken-laden performance in the Saturday evening race, and he says that he’s learned from his mistake in the first race.

“I expect to have a good start, with a good strategy and to make two overtakes,” asserted Pourchaire. “I want to win the race, but we will see because a lot can happen. We have had Safety Cars and Virtual Safety Cars in every race.

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Pourchaire shortly before his super good overtake on FIttipali
Pourchaire shortly before his 'super good overtake' on FIttipali

“We will see what we do with the strategy, but I want to make a good start, and if I have a good start, I think it will be a good race. The most important thing is to be really consistent, really concentrated and to not make little mistakes.

“This morning I made a very little mistake and went into the wall at Turn 22, so I need to concentrate. I know how to do it now.”