Zele Racing suffered from tyre problems in Saturday’s qualifying session for the AutoGP race in Budapest. Thus, Narain Karthikeyan (P7) and teammate Luciano Bacheta (P10) will start from further down on the grid into tomorrow’s double-header.
Speaking straight after the end of the session, team boss Michael Zele was less than impressed saying: “We have expected a lot more than P7 and P10, which are certainly not for our two drivers.”
A first analysis indicated that the tires were the main cause for the mediocre display. “We believe that there was a problem with the tyre temperatures and their pressure. Obviously, we will now have to sit down, go over the collected data and the feedback from the drivers to be in a better position on Sunday”, Zele added.
Despite the low grid position, the team is still confident they can perform well, as Estonian driver Sten Pentus came from ninth on the grid to finish fourth last year.
“It was a bit difficult today, so we will have to make some changes overnight. Nonetheless, there is still a chance since most of us are really close together. So I am still confident for Sunday”, Karthikeyan said looking ahead to the races.
At the Hungaroring both AutoGP races take place on Sunday, on in the morning, the other early afternoon.
