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Petr Fulín expects tougher fight on race day

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Krenek Motorsport’s Petr Fulín has claimed pole position for the second round of the 2013 FIA European Touring Car Cup, though the 36-year-old expects a tougher fight with unpredictable weather on Sunday and strong competion from the SEAT Supercopa cars for the overall victory.

“I think that the weather has completely changed today,” he said to TouringCarTimes after qualifying. “Yesterday was better, today there was a big wind and a lot of debris on the track, if you went off-line you’d have a problem as the track is very dirty.

“Qualifying, just one lap, is not a problem, but a whole race will be quite different.”

Fulín will start from pole position ahead of the identical BMW 320si of Mat’o Homola, whilst Fulín’s team-mate Michal Matejovsky will be forced to start from the back after going off in qualifying.

“Mat’o (Homola) is also second as in Monza, and this is his home track, he’s very young and a very nice guy and I hope we’ll have a very good race together.

With spots of rain forecast to hit the track throughout the day, Fulín’s concerned with the rear-wheel drive BMW not as competitive in the wet, whilst the SEAT Supercopas in fact have a distinct advantage in thos conditions.

“Rain is not so good for BMW…I think Monza was my first experience in the rain with a BMW as there were no wet races last season. It’s very difficult to select the right tyres, as new tyres in wet conditions is usually very bad, and the Single-Make Trophy cars with their bigger tyres have a big advantage for the long distance and even more during a wet race.”

The first ETCC race of the day gets underway at 11:30 CET.