- Érik Zabala achieved third position in the two races held and is fourth in the general classification, second in the Junior category. The Barcelona team is second in the teams section.
- Èric Gené had to abandon the first race when he was third, and in the next he staged an incredible comeback. Sandro Pelatti, for his part, scored in both.
- “It has been a very positive weekend. We must highlight the impressive speed of Èric Gené on a very complicated and unknown circuit for him. Érik Zabala has been splendid from start to finish and Sandro has given a performance from less to more,” highlights David Simón, Team Manager of Monlau Motul.
- “We are full of enthusiasm for this season that has just begun. The three drivers have pleasantly surprised us and the mechanics and engineers have done an impeccable job, as always,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul.
Monlau Motul started the 2024 TCR Spain season at the Jarama Circuit, where it took two podiums. Aboard two CUPRA León VZ TCRs, Érik Zabala, Èric Gené and Sandro Pelatti were in charge of defending the colors of the Barcelona team in this first meeting, in which Zabala was the best positioned of the three in the two races that took place. They disputed.
Framed in the Jarama Speed Meeting, the TCR Spain action began on Friday with verifications and a shakedown . On Saturday, a free practice session was held, followed by the qualifying round to define the starting grids for the two races on Sunday, in which Èric Gené achieved a valuable third place. The current TCR Cup champion, Érik Zabala, was fifth, and Sandro Pelatti 12th.
In the inaugural race, already on Sunday, which consisted of 25 minutes plus one lap, Zabala was the one who achieved the best result of the team. The Navarrese driver knew how to take advantage of the various incidents that occurred on the track, which caused the safety car to come out on two occasions, to cross the finish line third and second in the Junior category. The breakage of the water radiator due to a touch from Gené when he was fighting for silver meant that he had to abandon, which lifted Zabala to the last step of the podium. Pelatti, for his part, climbed some positions to place ninth and add 13 important points for the team.
The finishing touch to the weekend came in the second round, which was held in the afternoon with the first 10 positions of Q2 reversed. Zabala made a very good start that allowed him to go from fifth to third position and repeat bronze, just like in Junior, to culminate a very good start in the Spanish championship. Gené, who started from the pit lane due to the penalty for the incident during the first race, staged an incredible comeback, on a new circuit for the Catalan and where overtaking is not easy, to place seventh. Pelatti took the checkered flag in 12th place, which translated into 7 points.
In this way, the Navarrese driver is fourth in the general classification of the competition with 63 points, only one less than the third and eleven from the first, and second among the Juniors. Monlau Motul also occupies second place in the teams section. Gené is ninth overall and sixth Junior, while Pelatti is 12th.
David Simón , Team Manager of Monlau Motul, highlighted the pace of the three drivers: “It has been a very positive weekend. We must highlight the impressive speed of Èric Gené on a very complicated and unknown circuit for him, where he has been fast from the beginning. It is a shame about the incident in the first race, but both in qualifying and in the second race he has shown that he had more pace than most of his rivals, so this is a learning experience for this driver who has all the conditions to arrive far. Érik Zabala has been splendid from start to finish, always in the top five, and has shown that he continues to grow day by day. As for Sandro, he has performed from less to more, becoming more and more sure of himself and starring in beautiful fights.
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul, valued the work of the entire team: “Without a doubt, we are full of enthusiasm for this season that has just begun. The three drivers have pleasantly surprised us, we believe they have important talent and we are happy with the results. The work of the mechanics and engineers has been, as always, impeccable. In addition, CUPRA is offering us very valuable support in order to face this course.”
The team’s next stop at TCR Spain will be the Portuguese round, which will be held in Estoril, on July 19 and 20.
