The Mexican trip of AVF by Adrián Vallés, managing the SMP Racing cars in the 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5, ended up with an unlucky Sunday today at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Matevos Isaakyan, who started from the fourth row of the grid after a tough qualifying session, stalled at the start, while Egor Orudzhev, who also had a difficult launch, was swallowed by the pack. On the second lap, Egor hit Palou in turn 1, and the safety car was forced to make its way on-track. This allowed Isaakyan to catch the tail of the pack and, at the restart, the Russian began a series of exceptional overtakes that allowed him to take the lead right before his pit stop on lap 14. Back on-track in fifth place, Matevos first passed Tereschenko and then caught Nissany, thus setting his sights on the podium. However, during the penultimate lap, the two made contact at the Stadium complex. Matevos could still end the race in fourth but lost his shot to the podium. It must be noted that, throughout the weekend, the AVF team cars carried a mourning sign to pay respects to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Barcelona.
Egor Orudzhev
“I really don’t know what happened in turn 1. I just missed the braking point and crashed into the other car, ending my race in the wall. The start was not perfect either, and that’s a shame because in qualifying I did a mega lap and a podium finish was definitely possible today. “
Matevos Isaakyan
“After a difficult start, the race ended on a positive note as I recovered from last place to almost hit the podium. The strategy was good and I had clean air for most of the race so I could set the fastest lap again as well. Unfortunately during the penultimate lap, while I was passing Nissany for the podium, he crashed into me. I spun and when I restarted with a damaged car third place was gone. Luckily I still managed to score valuable points.”
Photo credit: ©Dutch Photo Agency