CUPRA EKS driver Adrien Tambay proved victorious in the Pool FAST DHL Super Final, whilst team-mate Jordi Gené overcame Hyundai Motorsport N’s Norbert Michelisz to take second place with Norbi coming home third.
Tambay made a strong start from pole despite Michelisz alongside on the drag down to T1, and comfortably entered the corner whilst Michelisz was edged wide by Gené behind, with the Spaniard being nudged from Bruno Spengler in hi Romeo Ferraris behind to enhance his chances against the Hyundai driver.
Spengler’s arrestation by the CUPRA of Gené into T1 enabled the Veloster of Jean-Karl Vernay to gain advantage and get past, leaving Spengler with only team0mate Luca Filippi behind in the six-car battle.
Up front Gené put Tambay under pressure early on in the 5-lap encounter, whilst at the back it was a very different strategy for Filippi, aiming to conserve Power Up till later in the race, meaning the dropped off from the early adopters in the pack ahead.
Tambay was not to be disturbed or displaced by his team-mate, whilst Michelisz kept the CUPRA couple under close watch and soon reeled in Gené as the battle entered half distance.
As Michelisz looked for a way past the car in front, so team-mate Vernay was more concerned with the car behind as Spengler had him under close scrutiny.
For the penultimate lap, Tambay had a gap of a second from Gené behind, so his task was merely to not make any mistakes to take the flag first. Gené meanwhile was able to shake the interests of Michelisz, whilst Spengler could but try to get past Vernay.
Come the final lap, Michelisz was back with Gené and Spengler right with Vernay, but neither aggressor was able to make anything stick so come the chequered flag it was Tambay from a closed-up Gené, Michelisz on his own, from Vernay under attack from Spengler with a distant Filippi taking sixth place.
“Taking my second Super Final win was great,” said Tambay. “It was not perfect again from my side as you need to be there from the beginning to the end and this is what what happened again thanks to my boys at CUPRA EKS. They did a tremendous job and we are here in Spain, so Vamos CUPRA!”
Gené was happy, even if he wasn’t able to take the lead from his team-mate. “I had a try again on the first lap. It was a bit risky, but the pace was great, I could push very well,” said Gené. “So, thanks CUPRA, thanks EKS, for being so successful in our home race: I’m very happy!”
Michelisz was left to rue his first turn ousting from second spot and was unable to pass Gené in the same manner he’d acheived in the earlier Semi Final.
“I guess he’s prepared after the Semi Final,” he said. “I did my best but it wasn’t easy. Finishing third in the Super Final is still the best result for me this season. It was a bit unfortunate because I lost one spot being hit from behind at the start, but still it was a solid weekend.”
Pool FAST DHL Super Final Results
Pool FAST Standings post DHL Super Final
