Bacheta retains 3rd in championship, despite difficult Hungarian weekend

Luciano Bacheta and Oregon teammate Niccolo Nalio retained their 3rd place in the Renault Sport Trophy standings, despite a difficult weekend in Hungary.

A broken fuel pump meant Bacheta had very little seat time in the run up to qualifying, and as a result would have to start the Endurance race from 9th on the grid. Bacheta drove superbly to climb up to third by the time the he pitted to hand over to teammate Niccolo Nalio. Nalio immediately began to attack, but while trying to pass for second position, he lost control of his Renault Sport R.S. 01, dropping the pair down to fourth place at the chequered flag. Despite the disappointment, Bacheta and Nalio leave Budapest third in the Endurance standings.

For the individual Sprint race Bacheta again had to start from ninth on the grid. The Englishman made a good start, and was in the middle of a battle over sixth position. While passing Nicky Pastorelli around the outside of turn 3, the V8 Racing Team driver lost control, hitting Bacheta and forcing them both wide. That allowed fellow Oregon racer David Fumanelli past the pair of them and into sixth position. Bacheta chased Fumanelli down for the remainder of the race, finishing just half a second away, in seventh position.

“It ended up being a frustrating weekend,” said Bacheta. “The pace was there right from the start, we were second quickest in Free Practice 1. But then I had a fuel pump issue which meant I only managed 9 laps in Free Practice 2, and that put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend really. Nevertheless, we are still in a strong position as far as the championship is concerned, and next up is my home race at Silverstone where I’ve won so many times in the past and tested the Williams Formula 1 car. I think we can have a much stronger weekend there.”

The results of the weekend leave Bacheta and Nalio in third place in the Endurance standings, with teammates Dario Capitanio and David Fumanelli currently on top. In the Elite standings for the professional drivers, Bacheta is in joint fifth. There’s now a three month gap for the Renault Sport Trophy, as they head to Silverstone on September 5/6, which will mark the halfway point of the season.

On board video Elite Race: