August 30, 2016

 

The defending champion in the 2016 Superleague season has been forced to the sidelines for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix, with reserve driver David Francic being brought up to fill the gap.

The current drivers champion, championship leader and last year's race winner will not be taking to the grid of the Stormcharge Superleague race next week at Monza.

The 2015 Champion has been in superb form for Vod:Bul Racing recently, having won double the amount of races of any other driver this year including the last 3 races to take himself to the top of the current season's standings.

Philipp's season hasn't been smooth sailing though having already missed two rounds due to ill health, which makes his current lead in the standings even more impressive.

With the championship so tight at the top (only 7 points cover the top 3 drivers) missing Monza will deal a real blow to retaining the championship we won last year.

Team Owner Mike Pitman read a statement

"It is with regret that we have to announce that Philipp will not be with us for Monza, a race I know he was looking forward to. Unfortunately Philipp's health hasn't been 100% this season and we had hoped the summer break would give a chance to get on top of these issues but alas we support Philipp in his choice to do what's best for him and his health. We will of course welcome him back into the team as soon as he feels ready.

The team is still heading to Monza with Mindaugas more than capable of leading the team, as he has done at Torrent already this season and I know he is after adding to that win in Turkey. Joining him for this race will be Reserve driver David Francic, his hard work in free practice this season is a big reason why the team has a top car to challenge for wins. David we know is more than capable at this level having last stepped in at Silverstone for us and brought the car home in a very respectable 4th place only behind the top 3 in the drivers' standings. "

David Francic

"It's going to be a great experience to do another race for the team after my last one being Silverstone, and I'm looking forward to achieve even better result this time."

Puschke has a lot of fans in Italy who will no doubt be disappointed by this announcement but I'm sure will understand it had to be done. The battle at Monza will go on next week as planned but there will always be the what would have happened if Puschke was here?