Pau Report

Boardman gives new Leon top 10 debut at Pau

Tom Boardman came from 24th on the grid to be classified 9th in the first of two action-packed FIA World Touring Car Championship races at Pau. He then moved up to 6th in race two before crashing his new black SEAT Leon out of contention. This was Tom’s third appearance at Pau – the famous 1.7 mile street circuit in the south-west corner of France, which has remained unchanged since 1933.

Situated in the shadow of the Pyrenees, this race is to touring cars what the Monaco Grand Prix is to Formula 1, and it’s one of Tom’s favourite tracks on the WTCC tour. Driving his SUNRED Engineering entered and www.club-seat.co.uk supported ex- Darren Turner Leon for the first time, the 25-year old racing driver from Forton in Lancashire set 9th and 11th fastest times (out of 26) in the two free practice sessions.

He was optimistic of a good qualifying run, but as he was about to start his second flying lap, Tom clipped a kerb and brushed against a wall. He managed to get the car back to the pits, but the damage meant his qualifying was over. Determined not to be disheartened, Tom started 24th and finished a magnificent 10th on race one – just 12.9 seconds behind Tom Coronel (SEAT), who had started 18 places ahead of him from sixth. This was a truly extraordinary performance on a tight and twisty circuit that is notoriously difficult to overtake on.

Normally, Tom would have started race two from where he finished race one, but two drivers who had finished ahead of him were having problems – and their differing fortunes would influence Tom’s grid position in very different ways. Firstly, Coronel failed to start race two, meaning Tom moved up one place on the grid to start from 9th. Then Felix Porteiro (BMW) was excluded from race one, but significantly only after race two had finished. This saw Tom retrospectively classified 9th in the race one results, but had Porteiro been excluded before race two had started, Tom may well have started race two from pole, as the top eight start in reserve order.

In the opening lap of race two, Tom climbed from 9th to 6th before sliding into the crash barriers, forcing him out of the race with broken suspension. Boardman said: “You could say I got bitten by Pau, but I just love racing there and I had a really good race weekend. The crash barriers are so close to the track, there is no margin for error at all. I made two very small mistakes all weekend and Pau punished me – but that’s why I love the place so much. It’s unforgiving. “The new chassis makes such a massive difference and I knew as soon as I drove it that I’d be competitive. I clipped a kerb in qualifying and hit the wall, but even after that disappointment it was a case of heads up and try and get a good result. “I had a cracking first race and I was really pleased to take the chequered flag in tenth and then be moved up to ninth. I made another good start in race two and was up to sixth pretty quickly, before I came into a long right hand corner a little too hot on cold rear tyres. The back of the car broke loose and I just snagged the crash barrier with the rear of the car, which pulled the front in as well, breaking the front and rear suspension. “That was a shame, but the car is easy to fix and we go to the next race meeting in Valencia full of confidence – and with a car I know we can do very well in.” Rounds 9 and 10 of the WTCC take place in Valencia in Spain on May 30-31.