After a succession of difficult weekends, Comtoyou Racing’s Gilles Magnus bounced back at Adria Raceway with a third-place finish in race two.
Understandably, the young Belgian was relieved with his performance today in Italy:
“It’s been a difficult period so it’s good to be back here [amongst the podium finishers],” he said. “First of all in Most we had a technical issue in qualifying, and then in Pau due to my mistake going off in quali. So starting at the back for four races in a row was definitely not the best thing, but I left that behind me and did a complete reset, and here we are again.
“We’re not fighting for the championship anymore, so my main role here is to help Fred [Vervisch] and I think I’ve done that today. I’m happy for the team and I’m happy for myself – a positive day.”
As he alludes to there, Magnus’ return to form couldn’t have come at a better time for Comtoyou Racing and Audi, as the 22 year-old has been able to offer support to team-mate Frederic Vervisch who is putting together a late charge for the FIA World Touring Car Cup title.
As such, it has been much more of a team effort amongst the Audi drivers than was the case earlier in the year.
“It is true, we’re working together better than we were at the beginning of the season, though we were still working together well then,” Magnus confirmed.
“We’re learning to work well with each other, and speaking the same language as Fred is an advantage, so these kind of things help for sure.
“But yeah, I’m happy with the teamwork we did. Let’s see in Sochi what Fred will be able to do – the pressure is on his shoulders, I’ll just be there to help!”
Indeed, Magnus has actually already wrapped up a title of his own this year. Following his strong result in race two at Adria, Magnus was crowned champion of the WTCR Trophy – a sub-championship for independent, non manufacturer-backed drivers.
Although the big aim for every driver is to win the FIA World Touring Car Cup outright, this accolade was still very much welcomed by the RACB academy graduate.
“For sure, it’s good to have a title,” he said. “I think we’ve really dominated [the WTCR Trophy] and it’s something to put on my list of achievements, so yeah I’m really happy with it.”