This weekend in Sarno turned out to be even more special than others due to the presence of Charles Leclerc: we had the honor to host Charles around the paddock to make him feel an integral part of our workflow. His involvement was a great inspiration for the team and drivers, who also thanks to his presence pushed hard to bring home a positive result. Our drivers for this race were Maxim Rehm, Matteo Viganò, Gabin Leuillet, and Jose Antonio Gomez Gutierrez, all involved in the KZ2 category.
Rehm and Viganò were immediately able to find more than good confidence with the track, thanks especially to their ability and experience in the category. Both our drivers were protagonists of a good qualifying practice, built around some very quick laps: Maxim concluded in P7 in his group (P21 overall), while Matteo also managed to get a top 10 placement during his flying lap. Gomez Gutierrez and Leuillet had a bit more difficulties in finding the best possible pace, but they showed constant improvements over time.
During the heats, Maxim Rehm turned out to be even more competitive. The German driver stayed between the top 5 and top 8 in every manches, especially thanks to his usual consistency and also to some calculated risks which in the end afford him to secure a more than positive 15th position. Matteo Viganò also managed to drive as fast as possible and proved to be extremely competitive, but an unfortunate DNF pushed him down to P30 overall after some very strong heats in which he was always able to find an impressive speed. Gomez Gutierrez and Leuillet were instead good at raising the bar and constantly improving during their Saturday, catching some solid P20 placements.
Sunday, under the watchful eye of an involved Charles Leclerc, our guys did their best demonstrating their excellent qualities. Maxim Rehm concluded with this weekend’s best team result, crossing the line in P14 after making up seven positions from the start of the race. Viganò instead was once again very unlucky: despite one of the best in terms of speed on the track and an incredible comeback of 10 spots, an incident and also a strange penalty cost him to finish in 29th. Unfortunately, despite great signs of progress made throughout the heats Gomez Gutierrez and Leuillet weren’t able to take part in the final.
Jordon Lennox-Lamb, Team Manager: “The presence of Charles Leclerc pushed all of us to give something more and in the end, I can say that I’m very pleased about our results in Sarno after a pair of tough races. I have seen the right attitude and the same hunger for victories from all members of the team and I’m sure that even Charles has remained impressed with our approach and steps forward during the weekend. I congratulate everyone for their dedication: we can look forward to the European Championship with great confidence”.