Roman Bilinski on attacking Baku comeback: 'Sometimes you have to send it'

It was a solid start to the Baku races for Roman Bilinski, as he brought home points having lined up down the order in 13th on the grid.

The DAMS Lucas Oil driver wound up sixth by the chequered flag after an aggressive and well-judged drive into the points.

Reflecting on his morning's work, Bilinski said that it had been an enjoyable race and that it boded well for the longer Feature Races to come.

"Overall a very solid race. Seven overtakes done, which I think was really good. The pace was strong as well, so hopefully we can build on that in the Feature Race. So, definitely a positive race compared to the last few.

"The first one was with Miyata. He overtook me and straight away I wanted to get it back, and I didn't like that, so it was a good move.

"Then it was the same with Minì. As soon as he overtook me, I wanted to get it back, and with the last lap on Kush, I just risked everything, dived down the inside, and kind of had nothing to lose, to be honest.

"I thought it was really good. So, I'm really proud of those. I hope it was a good show for the people watching, because it definitely was exciting in the car.

"It's nice to be back in the points as well, but hopefully we can do that for some bigger points in the Features."

After the disappointment of Qualifying and ending up outside the top 10, Bilinski paid tribute to the work the team did overnight to make improvements for Friday.

He added that he was very happy to make the most of the chances as they came, and believes there are even more opportunities on the table in the longer races with strategy to take into account too.

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"It definitely takes a lot, because this sport is so demanding mentally and physically, but we stayed late, we worked really hard and looked at past years' data to be as well prepared as possible.

"Then I think part of Baku is you just have to send it. There's always going to be a bit of chaos, and you have to try and make sure you're in the right place at the right time, which is easier said than done.

"But I think we didn't do too bad today, and now we need to bring that into the Feature Race later. It's going to be a longer race. But hopefully we can make some good overtakes and a good strategy can put us in some solid points, anything can happen here."