The World Series Renault 3.5 was back on-track today at the Hungaroring as teams and drivers lined-up for qualifying 1 and Race 1 at the Magyar venue. The seventh round of the 2014 season brought once again some surprises in terms of the weather with conditions ranging widely. Unfortunately for I.S.R. Racing, red flags also came into play depriving Malaysian racer Jazeman Jaafar of a legitimate shot at the pole position. After leading in the first part of the dry session, he lost the chance to improve his mark due to an interruption, and was forced to content with 11th place on the grid.
Nonetheless, he delivered a quick start, passing several drivers and fighting amidst the top-10 despite the challenging visibility. He held on to his position in 10th, successfully defending himself from the attacks of several opponents, and mastered the progressive improvement in terms of track conditions which also took its toll on the rain tires. Jazeman eventually posted a solid performance, scoring one point which is only a small reward considering the potential showed so far.
The aim is now to improve even further in qualifying 2 before lining up for Race 2, scheduled for tomorrow at 14:00 local time.
Jazeman Jaafar – Q1: P11 – R1: P10
“It all happened in qualifying when we were in P1 in the first part of the session. Then the red flag came out in the worst possible moment, pushing us down to 11th. At the start I got a quick getaway, passing three cars and fighting with Sainz and Ocon, but the visibility was very bad and I also struggled a bit with the traction. I think we can be strong both on the dry and on the wet, but of course it all depends from what happens in qualifying. I’m pretty confident for tomorrow”.