Hungarian WTCR weekend filled with disappointment for Niels Langeveld
Niels Langeveld was forced to endure an unfortunate WTCR meeting at the Hungaroring last weekend, as a disappointing qualifying session for the Dutch driver led to a best result of 18th in the third race of the weekend. On the upside, Langeveld and his Comtoyou Team Audi Sport outfit have identified the cause of their poor performance, and together they are looking forward to the meeting at the Slovakia Ring in two weeks' time.
Langeveld was in confident mood going to the second WTCR meeting of the season. The Hungaroring had no secrets in store for the Audi Sport driver, as the Budapest circuit is a track where the Dutchman has previously excelled. "I really felt that we could do well here and that I could at least be the fastest Audi driver. I had a good feeling about it in free practice, in which I ended well up the order."
It all failed to materialise in the crucial qualifying session, however. "I made four attempts, but neither of them worked out. I just couldn't get below the 1.53.8 mark. Of course, I did all I could to analyse the problem along with the team and my race engineer Herman de Jager, leaving late at night and returning to the track early in the morning, as I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. But I failed to produce the result, so I'm very disappointed in the weekend."
Langeveld wasn't the only one suffering from a challenging race meeting. Despite his disappointing results, the Dutchman left several big touring-car names in his wake. "That’s the moment you realise you are in a world championship. Drop a few tenths here and there, and you’re nowhere – even the guys with several touring car titles. Everyone has a hard time in the WTCR, we all have to fight our own corner."
Langeveld tried to get the best out of the three races, but that was anything but easy, racing at the back on a drying track. His second race ended prematurely when a teammate left him little space, their wheels interlocking before the pair went off. "In that one race altogether I've been hit more times than in the whole last season in TCR Germany combined! I've collected a lot of knocks at the Hungaroring, so at the Slovakia Ring it's time to hand them out."
''Personally I can't wait, if it were up to me we’d race there tomorrow! I had a great two-day test at the Slovakia Ring, and with the team we found out why we lacked performance. That's why I'm going to Slovakia with a very positive feeling. Hungaroring was not the weekend I had hoped for, so let's reset and recharge – and then we'll go for it with renewed spirit!"
