For Romeo Ferraris a start to the FIA ETCR season fighting against adversity at Pau

Romeo Ferraris completed the first weekend of the FIA ETCR season, staged on the fascinating street circuit of Pau, France. The Giulia ETCR proved up to the task in the hands of the quartet of pilots formed by Bruno Spengler, Maxime Martin, Giovanni Venturini and Luca Filippi, but the weekend reserved numerous pitfalls for the constructor based in Opera, who was unable to capitalize the full potential of the package. 

The main satisfactions came from the successes obtained in the Quarter Finals 2 by Maxime Martin in the "Fast" pool and by Bruno Spengler in the "Furious" pool, and then by Giovanni Venturini in the Semi Final 2, again in the second group in which the members of the touring championship for fully electric cars are divided. 

Unfortunately, the Italian driver was unable to participate in the DHL Super Final of the "Furious" pool, as the Giulia ETCR, shared with country-fellow Filippi, sustained damage beyond repair in the final of the "Fast" pool, when Filippi  suffered a violent impact against the barriers after being touched by Jean-Karl Vernay.  Venturini had already suffered a contact by Mikel Azcona, back at the wheel of a Hyundai, at the start of the Quarter Final 1 on Saturday, which resulted in a broken front right suspension and a premature end of his heat. 

Spengler, the protagonist of a steady progression over the weekend, is now the Romeo Ferraris driver best positioned in the rankings, where he lies fifth with 61 points ahead of his teammate Maxime Martin (56). The Canadian and the Belgian have finished their debut weekend in the FIA ETCR as third in their respective DHL Super Final, which earned each of them an additional 20 points, while Romeo Ferraris is second in the constructors' classification with 117 points.

Michela Cerruti, Team Principal Romeo Ferraris 
"This first weekend of the season proved to be very demanding for us, with many episodes that played against us, starting with the accidents of Giovanni and Luca sharing the same car. Their chassis suffered very significant damage in the final heat and we will have to wait for our return to the headquarters to find out if we will be ready in time for the next round in Istanbul. It was frustrating to see unintelligent maneuvers in a FIA championship where we should expect the best from the point of view of driving standards. Luca was the author of excellent correct overtaking maneuvers and was then the victim of an action that had disastrous, avoidable consequences. Looking at the positive notes, the Giulia ETCR proved to be competitive, allowing Maxime and Bruno to win their respective quarter-finals  and  Giovanni to impose himself in the Semi Final. Luca has always been pugnacious and determined and once again he has confirmed himself as fast and true team player. From a technical point of view, Pau was a good test for the dynamics of the FIA ETCR cars, being a very narrow and twisty city track, and we are convinced that we have done well. While we are eager to progress further, the potential is evident. The regret for the championship points lost is there, together with the uncertainty about our participation in the next round in Istanbul, but we know we have all the credentials to recover over the course of the season".