Pepe Oriola says he is happy about the fight for this year’s TCR International Series title being so close, despite the Craft-Bamboo Racing driver dropping further back in Singapore.
Whilst Oriola was able to get onto the podium in Saturday’s opening race, he failed to match the pace of the dominant Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf cars and couldn’t challenge for a win.
The 22-year-old admits that the pace of race winner Jean-Karl Vernay and second-placed Stefano Comini was just too much for him and his SEAT.
“There was nothing I could try against Vernay and Comini,” said Oriola. “Their cars were so much faster, especially on the straights. I could only hope for some mistakes from them, which did not come.”
In Sunday’s race, however, the Spaniard was given a drive-through penalty for causing contact with WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli, and with much of the race run behind the safety car it left Oriola to finish outside the points in 14th place.
Despite losing ground to team-mate James Nash in the second race, Oriola remains focussed on the bigger picture and insists the 16-point gap isn’t a problem with four races left still to run.
“After stepping on the podium on Saturday, I was hoping to repeat my performance on Sunday, but nothing went as planned,” he added. “The important thing is that I’m still in the fight for the title and that it will be something among three drivers.
“I’m aware that there are only four races to the end of the season and I must remain calm and score points in each race. Without a doubt, it will be an exciting end of the season.
“The situation in the standings is even closer now, and I am happy with this. We know that everything will be decided in Macau…”