John Filippi made the switch from the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) to TCR Europe for this season and in the process moved to Vuković Motorsport to help develop the 2019 Renault Mégane RS.
Hungary was the opening venue in the 2019 TCR Europe Touring Car Series and also the first challenge for both team and driver to see what they could learn about the new car. It’s safe to say that the Renault showed its best colours in both Free Practice and Qualifying.
John Filippi in the Vuković Motorsport run Renault Megane. Credit: WSC Ltd / TCR Europe
Filippi finished FP2 in twelfth place and would replicate that place in Qualifying, a performance which took many by surprise for the cars first weekend of competition. Fourteenth place in race one scored two points for the Renault driver whilst contact in race two ended his weekend early.
The Corsican driver was impressed with the car’s performance and took a lot away, ahead of the next rounds in Germany.
“In general this weekend is pretty good. The car is new and we still need to develop to play more in front but I am happy about our work, especially how hard the team worked,” said Filippi.
“We found a big step between free practice and qualifying, which is very good news for the other rounds. Our performance in Q1 was pretty amazing, I gave my best all the weekend and its a shame that we were not in the top ten in Q2. In race one, I fought a lot to keep my position due to a clear lack of power but I finish in the points.”
Team Manager Eric Nève was impressed with the cars competitive debut in Hungary and is positive about the progress that can be made in the following rounds of the season.
Filippi scored points in the cars first race of the season. Credit: WSC Ltd / TCR Europe
“After this weekend I am happy with the performance of the team. For our first race, they do a good job on the car. I am also confident in the performance of the car as we can expect good results in the future,” explained Nève.
“Hockenheim will be an important weekend for all of the team. This second race is the closest to our workshop so we want to perform on this mythical track.”
