He’s still clear of the pack, but the hunt is on for ‘Luchi’

19/07/2012

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Once in a while, even top drivers experience what might be termed a 'wobble weekend', and Comma-sponsored Luciano Bacheta made no pretence of being anything other than mortified that it happened to him on his and Comma's 'home turf' in rounds 9 & 10 of the FIA Formula Two championship at Brands Hatch on July 14th/15th.

Primed to deliver a showcase performance for his sponsor and their guests, Luchi's weekend initially got off to an unpromising start, the two official practice sessions leaving him worryingly off the pace in ninth and seventh positions at the end of Friday's proceedings.

Saturday's Race 1 qualifying put a smile back on his face however. Damp track conditions gave him the opportunity to play to his strengths and nail a convincing pole position over half a second clear of Russia's Max Snegirev, and more than a second ahead of the third fastest qualifier, Kevin Mirocha of Poland. All the serious pretenders to his championship lead were in the top ten, but their times appeared unlikely to pose too great a threat.

That was until he made what he later described as "a shocker, the worst start of my life". So awful was it that he appeared to have stalled completely, the head-on TV camera shot showing cars exploding past him in a kind of star-burst. By the time he'd found some traction action on the wet track, he was surrounded by other cars going into Paddock Hill bend and completed the first lap in fourth place behind Snegirev, Switzerland's Mathéo 'The Kid' Tuscher - who had started from the second row - and Mirocha. On lap two, Luchi disposed of the oversteering Russian at the chicane, but the track conditions were such that using overboost was too high a risk strategy and he was only going to make further progress if the two leaders made a big mistake. They didn't, and the podium positions remained unchanged for the remaining 21 laps. Given his pre-race prospects, Luchi was clearly frustrated by the outcome, but bravely conceded he was "glad to get the points; it's another good result." Indeed it was - just not the one he'd hoped for.

Sunday was clear and bright, but things didn't improve for Luchi. Unable in the morning's qualifying session to find an ideal set-up for the changed conditions, he found himself buried in eighth position – the farthest from pole he'd been all season - alongside an equally disappointed Tuscher. Could they both have made the wrong call on tyre pressures? Possibly, but the die was cast, and there was serous racing to be done if Luchi was to make an afternoon visit to the podium.

In the event, everyone kept station ahead of him, and he was only able to advance by pressuring Tuscher into an error at Paddock which eliminated the Swiss up against the tyre wall, and moving up to sixth when Snegirev disappeared off the charts with four laps to go.

Discounting Spa - where he was innocently shunted out of the race through no fault of his own in Race 1 and received only half points for winning the aborted Race 2 – Brands Hatch rewarded him with just 23 points, his lowest total of the season to date, and one of those weekends that a driver would just rather forget.

If there was any kind of up-side, it was that his 40.5 points clear lead in the championship had been dented by only 3 points. But proper racing drivers don't always see things that way. They want to be the winner - or at least to be on the podium - every time the chequered flag waves. Sometimes, the bigger, more optimistic picture eludes them.

In addition to sponsoring Luciano Bacheta's No 4 car in the series, Comma has been Technical Partner to FIA Formula Two, and the exclusive supplier of engine oils, coolants and maintenance chemicals to the championship since it was launched in 2009. All of the identical 500bhp Williams F1 designed Formula Two race cars are lubricated, cooled and serviced with maintenance products supplied by Comma.

You can read detailed race reports, view the complete championship standings and keep up with all the other latest FIA Formula Two news at the excellent official Formula Two website.