In his ETCR debut Romeo Ferraris driver Giovanni Venturini currently sits in tenth position in the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup standings, with three battle wins to his name over the year.
We caught up with Giovanni in the build-up to the season finale at Sachsenring to ask some questions…
What’s your assessment of your season in ETCR?
The first season was not what I expected honestly. Yes, I made some mistakes, but also I had some bad luck too, so I hope for the season finale will be better!
How do you have to approach the weekend differently than with a conventional race format?
The process is obviously different compared to a normal weekend because you have to learn the track and car so quickly. There’s just two or three laps then you’re with the engineer trying to make improvements so it’s very intense. When you don’t have a reference with the car or track from experience, and it’s pretty different in the ETCR cars to other ones, then you have to learn everything in three laps which is a big challenge for any driver!
What have been the highlights of your season so far?
Budapest because it was a good weekend where I showed a strong performance in qualifying and I was also good the final race on pace so I was fighting with Ekström. At the moment, Budapest was the best, so far!
What’s been the most frustrating thing about your season so far?
The most frustrating things, there are a lot of things obviously! The first race in Pau where I didn’t race in the final. Then the final two consecutive mistakes qualy in Zolder and the last one in Vallelunga which cost me a lot of positions and lap time. Obviously if you make a mistake in the first lap you have to do everything in the next one, and that’s not easy you know!
Have you ever raced at Sachsenring?
I never raced there so it will be tricky! We do simulator work and other preparation so that we arrive there as prepared as we can be.
What’s your approach to the season finale?
The approach for the season finale is push 100% and if I can help the team to reach some good results in terms of championship with Maxime will be my job you know, and yes, but for sure, I want to finish this season in the best way possible!
