ELMS – Alpine-Signatech in full swing

For this Austrian weekend, the team Alpine-Signatech went through all the emotions. First there was joy, when, on Saturday morning, she took the first pole position of her season. A cold shower quickly fell when the race management decided to disqualify them, the fault of a yellow flag which Nelson Panciatici had not seen. Finally starting from the fourth row of the starting grid, the?Alpine A450 n°36 would make a constant comeback throughout the race to secure another second place, after that achieved during the previous round at Imola.

“The team did an extraordinary job”, underlines Philippe Sinault, Team Principal of Signatech-Alpine. " L?Alpine A450 was very competitive from the start of the weekend. Nelson performed particularly well during the qualifying session. Seeing all our times withdrawn is a bit of a harsh sanction for having set the best time under yellow flags. Starting from eighth place, Pierre Ragues then Nelson Panciatici had a great race in difficult conditions. They had to attack to get back up despite very heavy traffic. Mobility problems did not allow them to always overtake comfortably. The team was exemplary during the pit stops. Does this second place feel like a victory starting from eighth position? We still have work to do to properly prepare for the end of the season. But we want to go higher from the Hungarian round! »

« Starting from eighth position and finishing second is a great result. It is to the credit of the entire team », underlines Nelson Panciatici for his part. Even if the result obtained this Saturday is satisfactory, we can't help but think that it could have been different without the penalty obtained after qualifying. “Starting from eighth position was particularly complicated. I preferred to minimize the risks at the start of the race. There was a lot of traffic. If we had started from the front line, everything would have been different. I?m looking forward to being in Budapest? I don't want to be labeled Poulidor! »