Ruben del Sarte happy with “fantastic” opening Ginetta Junior race at Croft despite a clash with Louis Foster costing him a podium position.
Del Sarte had climbed up from 11th to second in the first part of the race and was battling with Foster when the pair came together, damaging the TCR driver’s tyres and dropping him back to fourth.
“I qualified on pole, but due to a 10-place grip penalty from Oulton Park I started P11,” he told The Checkered Flag.
“The first race was fantastic. I drove from 11th to second but I had a bit of a crash with Foster which damaged my tyres, so I ended up fourth.
“He was trying to overtake me but he wasn’t next to me. He was on my right rear wheel, so he just tapped my rear and I slid in the grass. I had to race so hard, because it cost me huge damage to the front tyres.”
Del Sarte switched his front tyres for the second race of the weekend, which he believes cost him a chance at victory, but he drove through from fourth to take his fourth podium finish of the season.
“We had to put two new tyres on, so I knew I couldn’t win because I didn’t have the pace, and I just did my best,” he explained.
Foster, who finished the opening race fifth, was disappointed with the result and believed del Sarte didn’t give him racing room.
“Towards the end, when I was top rookie, I got contact,” he said. “Someone hit me. Del Sarte squeezed me when he shouldn’t have.
“That sent me wide and from there it turned from bad to worse. I got put wide, lost about three places or so and from there I just stayed there. It was pretty disappointing to be honest.”
Foster remains second in the overall championship heading into the second half of the season, less than 40 points behind team-mate Adam Smalley. Del Sarte leaves Croft fourth overall, 94 points off the championship leader.
