Villagómez aiming for Monza redemption with reverse pole for Baku Sprint Race

Rafael Villagómez says that he is gunning for the win on Saturday after winding up on reverse grid pole following a dramatic Qualifying session in Baku.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver qualified P12 originally, but with post-session penalties elsewhere, he was subsequently promoted to P10.

Speaking after the session, he reflected on what was a “messy” Qualifying in Baku, but was happy with the end result.

“Pretty messy, many Red Flags and a lot of people going off. I touched the wall on Lap 2, so I really only got one lap. It was luckily good enough for reverse grid pole. So I’m happy with that.

“I think the team did a really good job, and we knew from this morning that the pace was good and that we had a good car.

“It doesn’t mean much today, but if we can hold onto it tomorrow, it would mean a lot. Last year, we got a win, and this year, we’ve been on the podium but not had a win.”

Villagómez was able to finish the session without any major incidents, but the Mexican driver admitted that he tagged the wall early on in the session and it had compromised him going into the final runs.

The VAR driver says that he was fortunate to stay in contention for a top 10 after others made bigger errors later on.

“I was a little bit nervous to be honest. I had a little bit of damage, and we were one of the last ones in the queue, so anything could happen.

READ MORE: Several drivers penalised following Baku Qualifying session

“If someone went off ahead, my lap would be gone, and it might be an advantage to someone else. But, I had the crash in front of me and that brought out the Red Flag.”

Looking ahead to the Sprint on Saturday, the reverse grid pole sitter says it might be a difficult race to manage from the front, with DRS so powerful around the Baku City Circuit.

He also says that rain could impact the race, making things even more tricky for the entire field. Despite those factors, Villagómez says the top step of the podium is his only goal.

“I want to have a good start, but at the same time, it’s not the best track to lead around because the DRS effect is massive. It’s not the end of the world if I come out of Turn 1 and I’m not in the lead.

“Also, we’ll have to see what the weather does. There’s a chance it could be raining tomorrow, so we’ll have to wait and see. If there’s a lot of spray, it’ll make it more difficult, but the goal is to win.”

With one eye also on the Feature Race, the VAR driver believes that race strategy could be even more impactful than usual, given the uniqueness of the Baku track.

A particularly difficult outlap means deciding when to pit could be a make-or-break decision come Sunday.

“The outlap is pretty tricky here because of how dirty the track is, so we need to play with that a bit. If we time it well, when the right time to box is – we know from Monza we’re pretty good in the race and managing the tyres, so that gives us a little bit of confidence, but we’ll have to wait and see.”