Pepe Oriola upset to get a podium through Huff and Bennani’s crash

Pepe Oriola was ambivalent after securing his second podium of the season in the first race at Vila Real, with it coming in part following a crash involving SLR team-mates Mehdi Bennani and Rob Huff.

Huff and Bennani collided into Turn 2 and were taken to the hospital for precautionary checks, while the field piled in behind them, with Thed Björk’s Hyundai catching fire, and with a number of drivers getting out of their cars to assist those trapped in the melee.

“I was one of the first cars to be caught in the incident and went back on the truck, but my car was good and I thought maybe they’d make me start from the pit lane,” said Oriola to TouringCarTimes.

“After the restart, I had much more pace than Jean-Karl (Vernay) and I was able to pass him using the joker lap. We’ve been really fast all weekend but we just couldn’t do the lap in qualifying because of all the red flags.

“But I’m not happy to get a podium this way because of the accident between Rob and Mehdi. When I got out of the car I saw Mehdi screaming, which is something I’ve never seen in my entire career.”