Nicola Baldan will “need some luck” to win again today

Pit Lane Competizioni’s Nicola Baldan won the first race of the weekend at Monza. The SEAT driver had it relatively easy after MM Motorsport’s Eric Scalvini was given a drive through penalty and Opel’s Kevin Giacon retired due to an exploded tyre. Despite this, Baldan says he had more pace in his car.

“I was not on the limit, but I was pushing”, said the SEAT driver to TouringCarTimes. “I suffered from a lot of understeer, which I didn’t have in qualifying, so we will have to work on a couple of details to make sure this doesn’t happen today.”

The Pit Lane Competizioni driver did not push too much early in the race in a bid to save the tyres in the heat of Monza, which paid off in the end.

“I decided not to push too much at the beginning of the race, because I knew I would have been gone by the time the race finished, and I was right. When I decided to push I caught him (Giacon) quite quickly. I saw he had missed the apex in a couple of corners, so I thought he might have finished the tyres.”

When asked if he believed he could have passed his rivals on track, without penalties or incidents, Baldan admitted it would have been more difficult with Scalvini, due to the Honda’s superior top speed.

“I think I would have passed Giacon anyway. Maybe his tyres were already gone, although I don’t know if I would have taken the risk to pass him, I could have settled for second. I’m not sure. It would have been close with Eric (Scalvini) as well, but the problem is the slipstream doesn’t work for me, I just can’t catch him. I was quicker in the first sector up to Lesmo, but then I just couldn’t catch him to pass.”

As for today’s race, once again Baldan feels it is crucial to stay ahead at the start from pole position, as it would be difficult for him to overtake.

“If I can get the start right, which is quite complicated, I think I can stay ahead and think about winning. I just need a bit of luck, I feel like I’m in credit after Misano.”

The gap between Scalvini and Baldan is now down to 15 points, as third-placed Plamen Kralev is now 25 points behind the SEAT driver.