MADPANDA MOTORSPORT SECURES TWO FOURTH PLACES AND VALUABLE POINTS IN VALENCIA
The Circuit Ricardo Tormo hosted the penultimate round of the Fanatec GT World Sprint Cup, where Madpanda Motorsport wrapped up its first local weekend with two fourth place finishes. Despite challenging weather conditions throughout the weekend, the Spanish team found positives to take away from their Valencian experience.
Qualifying sessions proved to be demanding due to the ever-changing weather and the crowded track with thirty-nine cars on a tight track. The Mercedes-AMG No. 90 qualified sixth and seventh in class. In the first one-hour race, the Finnish driver began from sixth place in class and handed the car over in fourth place to the Argentine driver, Ezequiel Companc. The "Sakura" car maintained this position until the race's end.
On Sunday’s race, starting from seventh position in the Silver Cup, Ezequiel Companc and Jesse Salmenautio navigated through the challenging field. They fought for a podium finish until the closing moments of the second race, crossing the finish line in fourth place in class, twenty-second overall. The duo secured valuable points for their Silver Drivers Championship, where they currently stand in third place.
Once again, the Spanish team cherished the opportunity to connect with new local fans and their ever-growing fan base. The Sprint Cup's finale is set to take place in one month amidst the Dutch dunes of Zandvoort. Before that, Madpanda Motorsport heads back to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for their home race and the Endurance Cup finale. The trio consisting of Magnus Gustavsen, Ezequiel Companc, and Alexey Nesov will join forces one last time to contend for another podium finish this season. Additionally, they will compete in E-sports, where sim-racer Alexey Nesov currently holds the second position in the Silver standings.
Jesse Salmenautio, driver: "We entered the weekend with higher hopes, and it began positively. Unfortunately, things didn't work out entirely in our favor this time. Anyway, we managed to overcome challenges and still collect important points for the championship. Focus on Zandvoort!"
Ezequiel Companc, team principal and driver: "We scored good points for the Sprint Cup standings by finishing in P4 on both races. We are still in third place in the standings, going to the finale round and especially on Jesse’s debut season in Fanatec GT World. I’m really happy with the job done by all the team. We keep working to get again podium results in Zandvoort!"
