Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia says that he ‘expected to be competitive’ at the Hungaroring, after qualifying in second for the second FIA World touring Car Cup race at the circuit on Sunday.
Urrutia was the best-performing Lynk & Co driver in Saturday’s hot and sunny qualifying session, ending up just under three tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Rob Huff.
The Uruguayan racer had been on the pace all day, being second quickest in first practice before ending second practice in tenth.
In Q1, the 25-year-old was third, before just squeezing through to Q3 when he was fifth fastest in Q2.
Despite missing out on pole by a relatively big margin, Urrutia insists he was happy with his performance.
“I expected to be competitive,” said Urrutia, who is currently fourth overall in the drivers’ championship standings. “I made a mistake in Aragón in quali that put me out of Q2.
“I worked hard in the summer break, working with the team, doing a few things. We finally came here, a track that I like. I did my first podium back in 2012, so it’s a track that I really like, and it paid off.
“The work I did in the summer break and all the work Cyan has done I think is good. Obviously all four cars were strong, because all four cars are in the top ten so we are really happy.
“Personally, I’m probably more happy than anyone else inside the team because I recovered very quick from the mistake in Aragon. It was good, it was a good lap, I enjoyed it. So I’m happy to be in second position.”
Urrutia congratulated both Huff and third-placed Norbert Michelisz, adding that being amongst two World Champions was a nice feeling.
“Congratulations to Rob, I’m happy to see him at the top. And Norbi as well, to put in P3 in a home race is really good.
“I wish one day we could race in Uruguay to see which crowd is better, here or Uruguay! But it’s amazing and good to see all the fans back here.
“It’s not always easy to race against world champions, they have a lot of experience and everything.
“The game is open, racing is racing. Tomorrow I hope to get a good start and then move on, and I hope all three of us can do a good clean race and bring some points home.”