Campos thrilled with Boschung pace on return after clinching Sprint podium

Ralph Boschung claimed a memorable podium on his first weekend back following a break stemming from his neck issues. The Campos Racing driver stood on the podium after finishing third in the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race, a result team boss Adrian Campos Jr said was better than what the team ever could have hoped for prior to the weekend.

Boschung has been sat on the sidelines following the sixth round of the season in Baku back in June. But following the summer break and extensive work to regain racing fitness, the Swiss driver delivered at the first time of asking, securing a memorable result for the team.

Following the Sprint, team boss Adrian Campos Jr was delighted with his driver’s efforts, adding that it was beyond the team’s wildest expectations considering his time out of the car this season.

“It’s not only a podium finish, but also the fact that Ralph managed to finish the race, which is good for us after his neck injury,” Campos Jr said. “It’s better than what we were expecting before the start of the weekend. Obviously, we would have taken that ahead of the weekend. We’re happy. He struggled physically, felt it a bit in the neck but he looks ok.

“He will need to start pushing a bit more on the physical side to finish the races without any physical problems, but we’re very happy for him.

“It’s not just the break, but it’s a break without training because the neck was stopping him from training hard. Doctors were recommending him to stay calm and not have big movements and forces. This is why the physical side has been most affected. He managed to finish the race with some issues but finished properly. Let’s see how he goes tomorrow.”

During the summer, Boschung worked hard with the team to ensure he’d be back in the car for the final four rounds of the 2022 season.

Travelling to the team’s base to run in the simulator and get back up to speed, the Swiss driver showed true dedication according to his team boss and was soon back into the swing of things after the process started.

“First of all, once he confirmed he would be back, the first thing we did was to put him on the plane and come to workshop. He spent two full days on sim sessions, working on this track and also refreshing all the work we’ve been doing since the beginning of the season, just to get him back up to speed.

“He struggled a little bit at the beginning but then later, the speed was there. We saw that in Free Practice and Qualifying and the only thing we didn’t know if he was going to be able to finish the race, on the sim he was fine but then with all the g-forces, he managed it, so we did a good preparation with him.”

With attentions now focused on the Feature Race on Sunday, Campos Jr says that Boschung will face an even tougher challenge but has high hopes his driver can emerge from the day with another respectable finish under his belt to carry forward to Monza next weekend.

“Tomorrow is going to be a bit more challenging, it’s a longer race and then we have two more races in a row. It’ll be three busy weeks for Ralph. If he manages to finish all three weekends without any more pain in the neck, I will be very happy.”