Qualifying for the Paul Ricard event saw Alex line up 10th on the grid for race 1. By the end of the first lap Alex had moved up into 8th and was soon in 6th place with the possibility of attacking cars ahead him.
However it was at this point that it became obvious his car was overusing the tyres and he had to go from attack to defence mode. A cracked floorpan also impacted negatively on car performance but Alex managed to bring it home in 8th and collect first points for the season.
Finishing 8th also put him in pole position for race 2. Alex was confident that with a repaired floor and car setup Adjustments he had a real chance of collecting his first podium finish for the year.
At lights out he got off to a great start and by the end of lap 2 he had over a second to the driver following him. As the laps went by however it became obvious that the previous day’s issues had not been overcome and the car was chewing through the tyres at an incredibly high rate and his advantage was disappearing until he was passed on lap 8 of the 20 lap race.
While attempting to make a pass back with the use of his DRS (drag reduction system) Alex was squeezed off the track and had to cut the chicane to avoid an accident. The driver Alex was passing received a 5 second penalty. From this point forward Alex’s tyres appeared even less effective and he gradually dropped down to 14th.
On to Austria.
