After the struggles suffered yesterday in practice, Zeta Corse rebounded well today in qualifying for race 1 of the 2014 World Series Renault 3.5 finale at Jerez. The team’s two Zytek-powered Dallaras were back to their usual pace following to the hard work done to fix the situation. Despite showing speed, both Spaniard Roberto Merhi and Russian Roman Mavlanov were hit by heavy traffic and by the lack of opportunities for passing. They respectively took a 10th and a 20th place on the grid.
Unfortunately, Merhi was unable to showcase his potential. After a phenomenal start that brought him up to the leaders’ pack, he was an innocent victim of a turn 1 incident between two of his opponents. Sadly, he had nothing else to do than exit his car and go back to the pits.
Mavlanov also delivered a quick start, although he was blocked by the contacts he had in front and had to lift off to avoid the melee. Despite that, he completed a solid drive to take the 11th place and coming very close again to the points zone. Both Roman and Roberto will be lining-up tomorrow at 9:30 for qualifying 2 before setting their sights on the final race of the year at 13:50.
Roman Mavlanov – Q1: P20 – R1: P11
“I had a very good start, but unfortunately the crash stopped me a bit because I was blocked. Then I held my position until the end as I couldn’t catch the car I had in front. The good news in that the car’s set-up and handling improved compared to yesterday. The race pace was good but it can still be improved. I also have to focus on my driving in order to line-up for race 2 with the best possible momentum”.
Roberto Merhi – Q1: P10 – R1: DNF
“Obviously there isn’t much to say about the race, because I was just hit by another car when I had a flying start and was aiming to fight among the frontrunners. Anyway, we finally solved the issues we experienced yesterday and that’s really good news for us. The car is quick and we can be back to where we belong. Traffic will be a problem as it was today for almost all drivers, but we definitely hope to end the season on an high note”.