Following a great result at the opening round in Monza, the team at Borusan Otomotiv were hoping for a similar weekend at Paul Ricard.
Qualifying in 12th and 14th, there was work to do during the race but Tom and Berkay had proven that they can push through the field during a race.
Race 1
Out first, Berkay was tasked with making up as many positions as possible to put the team in a good position for the pit stop.
He delivered on this, moving up to 10th in the opening stages of the race, until an early safety car put a stop to overtaking for 15 minutes. Taking one more place to P9 before the pit window opened, Berkay brought the car in for the change over.
Following an exemplary pit stop, as the pit window closed Tom was in P7, two positions up from when the pit window opened. Keeping up with cars in front, Tom did his best to hunt down the Alpine in front of him, but ultimately crossed the line in P7 on track, P6 in class. This is a text block. Click the edit button to change this text.
Race 2
Out first and starting 13th, Tom wanted to replicate Berkay’s fast start from the previous day. With a much cooler track, this could prove difficult.
In the opening lap Tom made an early overtake, before being pinned on the inside line on a tight corner and finishing the first lap in P16, with the Audi of Consani still behind him. Defending against the Audi slowed him down, until they traded positions later in the stint. Unwilling to settle into position, Tom pushed back, battling his way up to P12 aided by some mistakes and spins in front of him.
He didn’t stop there, and when the pit window opened Tom had battled his way up to P11. Yet another great pit stop put Berkay in P9 as the pit window closed. A rapidly cooling track and clouds looming closer would throw up some challenges.
Over the next 10 minute the clouds gathered and eventually the rain started to fall on the track. Some teams took the call to pit for wet tyres early, but the race leaders were staying out for now. As these cars are based on road cars, they have 5 bolts per wheel, so pit stops are not as quick as you see in some other series such as Formula 1. Lots of time could be lost, and it may not be possible to catch back up, even on tyres more suited to the conditions.
With the rain getting heavier, more teams heading the pits and the car struggling for grip, the decision was made to swap tyres. Berkay left the pits in P26 (even after another quick pit stop) and many of the cars that had also pitted were ahead. With 15 minutes to go, it was going to be big ask for him to push forward in these conditions.
Confident in the car and his tyres, Berkay pushed on. With 7 minutes to go and some more cars pitting, Berkay was in P23 but not for long. The M4 performed where other cars couldn’t and Berkay stormed through the field, unfazed by the conditions. Overtaking car after car, the field slowed around him and he crossed the line in P4. Just one more lap and they could well have been on the podium.
This joy was unfortunately short lived, as the team was informed that their stop to change tyres did not meet the required minimum stop time, and they were handed a penalty that pushed them back to P15, P10 in class.
Tom:
Overall I’m happy with our performance at Paul Richard coming away with a P6 and P10 in class with a tricky balance of power. We didn’t quite match the results of the opening round at Monza, but we definitely showed that we had pace, especially with Berkay’s stint on the wet tyres.
Getting the penalty in Race 2 was disappointing, from crossing the line in P4 to being pushed back to P10 in the results really hurt. That said it was absolutely right to go on to the wets, and that was evident by what Berkay was able to achieve on track. We learned a lot and we can take that with us for the rest of the season.
I think the team did a fantastic job to keep us at the sharp end and I cannot wait for Spa.
