Double podium at Paul Ricard “more than amazing” for Daniel Nagy

Daniel Nagy made it a double podium at the TCR Europe curtain raiser at Paul Ricard, France. The M1RA driver finished third in Race 2 after coming second in the first heat.

“It’s more than amazing,” said the Hungarian to TouringCarTimes. “This was the first TCR Europe weekend for me, so it’s brilliant to be second in the championship after the weekend. At the beginning it was difficult to decide which tyre to choose, but we went for slicks just like the others.”

The Hyundai driver believes that overtaking Honda’s Jens Reno Møller was the key to securing a podium, as he was able to get to the red flag in third.

“The first few laps were really tricky. The weather was getting worse and worse, there were a lot of classic touring car contacts. I made a mistake during the first lap and Dusan (Borkovic) suddenly overtook me, it was a huge surprise for me but it shows how tight the championship is. I could overtake Jens Reno Møller and that was a key move, because after that I was able to follow (Jean-Karl) Vernay and Borkovic.”

The Hungarian’s chase for his maiden win was ruined by him hitting debris, which meant the top speed of his i30 N TCR was not the same as before.

“After the red flag the track was drying but unfortunately I hit some debris and something was wrong after that, because I was not as fast as the others on the straights. My team-mate (Francisco Mora) was right behind me but he was very fair, and after all a double podium is a very good performance from me and the team.”

Nagy believes that had he not hit debris he could have been able to fight with Borkovic and Vernay for the win.

“I think it would have been quite close between myself, Borkovic and Vernay. Dusan is good at defending, so it would have been really hard, he was also quicker in the faster section of the track, whereas I was faster in the other areas. I think it would have been a great battle, but I’m still happy with what I have achieved this weekend.”