Pepe Oriola (pole position): “I am really happy with this pole that I didn’t expect at all. After free practice and Q1, I could never expect to beat Gianni, but I did, despite having to abort my first attempt because of traffic. Then, I found myself alone and I really enjoyed that clear lap. I know that it’s when you enjoy driving that you are faster, but still, I didn’t expect that to be the pole, the first this season. The points attached to it allowed me to retake the lead in the standings, but that doesn’t mean anything, we still have eight races to go, and I won’t think about that until Macau.”
Gianni Morbidelli (second fastest): “I did my best and it was a great effort by the entire team to work on the set-up of the car during these two days. It worked well. I missed the pole by one thousandth of a second, which is nothing, some millimetres, but the most important is that the car goes well. When I did my fastest time, I had already three laps in my tyres, which showed that the balance was good. Tomorrow, the biggest problem will be managing the effects of extreme heat…”
Jean-Karl Vernay (third fastest): “We are all very close, which proved how competitive and balanced the level of the series is. I was not very confident about the set-up after free practices, but then, analysing the data, we discovered that the problem was probably… me. I tried to calm down and have a cooler approach, and it worked. It’s my first time on this track and I really like it a lot.”
Kanthadee Kusiri (eighth fastest): “It was an excellent result for me and I thank the team that gave me a perfect car and helped a lot in working on the set-up. It’s my first race with a TCR car and it is very different from F.3, there are a lot of things to learn in a very short time. Tomorrow it won’t be easy but I’ll go for it and push as hard as I can.”
