March 15, 2016
Published on tags: Kernow Sport Superleague

 

Kernow Sport give us a rundown of what their experience was at the second round of the Superleague season in Bahrain.
Off the back of a fairly good result in Melbourne, the 57 laps of Bahrain proved to be a reality check as a controversial race resulted in just 3 points for the team and a retirement.

Potentia had given us a nice pair of upgrades to the engine unit; some added Boost performance as well as increased fuel efficiency.

Daniel Brewer was also set to make his debut for the team and he'd been looking pretty quick, despite having had to miss the preseason tests. He qualified in the top half of the grid, which after penalties were applied put him a fantastic 8th position to start the race. Probably our highest grid slot achieved for quite some time. Bart De Vos was, however, one of the many drivers to suffer a grid penalty and found himself lined up in 20th.

TM Wicks: "The race started and before we knew it Dan was out before even a lap was completed. There were issues in the opening turns for several drivers, and some cases of extreme lag, unfortunately Dan came off worst. He abandoned the car and headed back to his trailer. However, several drivers suddenly found themselves in retirement and due to the causes the race was red flagged. The team quickly had to find Dan and get him back in the car in time for the restart. So he managed to get a second chance.

Again though, he didn't complete a lap. He was scooped up by a rival and sent into retirement in the opening lap melee. Bart too was caught up with issues this time and dropped to the back. But it was also the start of an amazing performance that brought him back up to 13th and scoring points again. Often his lap times were as quick as the top finishers. So it's great to see there is such pace in the car. Bart drove really well. We're also gutted Dan didn't get a chance to show his skills. Without such a messy first lap another double point\'s finish would have been likely, perhaps even a double top-10.

We had quite an optimistic attitude heading into the event. Due in part to the previous result and also in part due to the driver's feedback on the car and upgrades; which was very good. Both guys liked the improvement and were feeling happy with the car. So three points actually feels a little like an underachievement: though it's a much better start than last year. We want to keep this up and be bringing points home every race. We have the potential to do it and there's a good upgrade package coming for Sochi too."

#12 De Vos (13th): "The team did a great job with the first batch of upgrades, our car was good to drive and felt quick. I decided to qualify and start on medium tires for a short stint. Unfortunately both me and Dan were victims of Sakhir's T1. I had a bent suspension, but was able to continue at a slower pace. First pitstop fixed the damage and it was all soft tires from there on. Pace was good, I soon was able to start overtaking some cars and catch the final points positions. I had to manage the tires somewhat to make a 3-stop work. 13th in the end is a decent result given the issues we had on lap 1. Nevertheless it feels like a missed opportunity where I couldn't use the car's full potential. But more points on the board for Kernow keeps us close to our rivals."

#83 Brewer (DNF): "It was an unusual race for me really. I didn't have much time to prepare so used all the time I did have to get my race pace up to scratch especially due to all the back of grid penalties. Qualifying was a nightmare with cars consistently blocking making it very difficult to get a lap in. In terms of the race start I fell victim to reckless driving which is something that can't be changed so no point pondering upon. Many positives to take from this race however, race pace was very strong and my tyre wear appeared to be very, very good looking at how many stops most people did. Overall a Round to forget, but something we can build on so not too unhappy!"

Points: 13
Position: 9th