Zeta Corse experienced another exciting and successful day of racing today at the Hungaroring. Beating the tough weather conditions that kept changing throughout Qualifying 1 and Race 1, Spaniard Roberto Merhi captured a phenomenal win by making a stunning getaway from 7th place and then cruising past early leader Oliver Rowland on lap 7. The 23-year-old racer kept an impossible pace for his rivals, dominating all the way to the finish to end up with almost half a minute over his closest opponent. It was his third win of the season after Moscow and the Nurburgring, and now Roberto stands just 26 points away from the championship lead. With five races to go, the fight for the title is on…
Also delivering an extremely positive race was Russian 20-year-old rookie Roman Mavlanov. After a mistake at the start pushed him to the back, he put together a massive recovery and fought his way towards the top-10. In the end, he eventually settled for 13th place but the speed and consistency showed so far are clear, with even more room for further improvement.
Qualifying 2 will be taking place tomorrow, Sunday September 14th, at 10:00 while Race 2 will take place at 14:00 on a 40-minute distance with mandatory tire change.
Roberto Merhi – Q1: P7 – R1: P1
“It’s been a very fun race. In the first stint I stayed behind Rowland for quite some time. I tried to pass him in turn one several times, but it wasn’t easy. Oliver was defending himself very well and the braking was difficult with the wet. Then at some point he made a mistake, I passed him and I had the chance to push as much as I wanted. I opened a large gap that I managed until the checkered flag fell. This is a sensational year, I scored my third win and I’m fighting for the championship. Who could have said that before the start? Neither I could, but with we made awesome progress and the results are coming. Now I’m 26 points away from Sainz, who is in the lead, and I’m starting to believe in it!”
Roman Mavlanov – Q1: P17 – Q2: P13
“I made a mistake at the start, putting second gear on too early, so I found myself at the back of the pack. But then I recovered quickly in the following laps. In the first six or seven laps I was close to getting a run for P9 but the tires started to drop off. I was pushing hard to catch Jaafar: at that points the tires were dead and I struggled with control ending in 13th. Anyway, the car is fast and we also understood well how to make it work in the rain. We’re heading in the right direction, now we have to keep the same focus for tomorrow”.