Juan Pablo García gets hit in the NEC

In an unlucky incident Juan Pablo García was put out of the second race of the sixth double round of the Formula Renault NEC (Northern European Cup), which was held at the 4.011km track of Zolder in Belgium.

García had been able to move into the top 10 in the first lap when he was hit by his team mate Vinicius Sammarone. Sammarone in turn had been pushed into the grass and could not brake and avoid the accident.

Juan Pablo was able to get going again and completed another lap but the damage in his car forced him to come into the pits. The lower right rear wishbone was bent and his engineer decided it would not be safe to go on.

Ninth place for Juan Pablo García in the NEC

Juan Pablo García Samano finished in 9^th place in his first race at the 4.011km track of Zolder, part of the sixth double round of the Formula Renault NEC (Northern European Cup).

“Since we had one half set of new tires left from qualifying we used on the left side of the car, keeping the used tires on the right side. The race went on in dry conditions and I had a good start. I had a good pace in the race”, commented García Samano by telephone.

“Zolder is a very complicated track to overtake, to be honest I thought I would have more opportunities to pass at the beginning but everyone had a good start. It was very difficult”, continued the Mexican.

“The track has a fast section and there it is difficult to overtake because there is only one ideal line and you can’t go in using another line. This made it more difficult for us to improve. I think overtaking was also difficult for me because it was the first time I was at this track”, he added.

“In the first part of the race the car felt very good and in the second half the track lost a lot of grip. It was not a setup problem but obviously the car behaved differently because having less fuel meant there was less weight at the rear and also the tires became more worn and also heated up after 10 or 13 laps. In the end I was ninth but I expected to finish more ahead”, he noted.

"We know Sunday’s race will be difficult, not only because the track configuration makes overtaking difficult, but also because there is a chance of rain. I drove with the wet track but not with rain and I hope we get a good result”, finalized the Mexican.