Interview
Stanek left very satisfied with last-to-points performance in Silverstone Sprint Race
Roman Stanek was a man on the move in Saturday’s wet Silverstone Sprint Race, coming through from the back of the field to take the final point in P8.
The Trident driver was in fine form as after Qualifying in P22 he fought his way through the field, pulling off several overtakes while also benefitting from a few drivers’ misfortune.
He then made an impressive overtake on Rodin Motorsport’s Ritomo Miyata for eighth with three laps to go, diving down the inside of the Japanese racer on the entry to Turn 3 – a move he called his favourite of the day.
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“After yesterday's Qualifying, I am very satisfied with this result because I qualified in last place and that's definitely not where I belong and not where my team belongs,” said Stanek.
“So, it was nice to move up 14 positions today. It was a fun race, obviously there were some cars that stopped on track, but history doesn't ask. So, it was fun and hopefully we can repeat it tomorrow.”
With heavy rain falling before and during the race, it was a tricky afternoon for the drivers, as track conditions were incredibly difficult. Several drivers even spun or ended up off the track, something Stanek managed to avoid, even if he had his own issues to deal with.
As well as that, the drivers to manage their way through three rolling starts, as well as the Safety Car and Red Flag restarts.
“Managing the conditions especially at the beginning was very tough because we had so much rain and there was a lot of spray,” he explained. But that also is what gives you so much adrenaline and it gives you the drive forward.
“The race was tough, especially the beginning. Then after the Red Flag it stopped raining, and the conditions were improving. I also had some issues on my car and that didn't help, but I still managed to get one point.”
Stanek will have to do it all again in Sunday’s Feature Race as he is set to line up in P22 once more. He is hopeful he can repeat his Sprint performance with conditions predicted to be the same, although he is unsure of how the added factor of pit stops will affect the event.
“The expectations are first looking at the pit stops,” he said. “That can hurt us or could help us. We have to improve the car because today we had some strong points, and some weak points so improve the weak points and try to move as forwards as possible because I am starting last so it cannot be worse.”