During his season in the GP3 Series we had already assimilated John Wartique’s undeniable strong point, namely his ability to adapt swiftly in a new highly competitive environment. This last weekend, on the Hungaroring, on Hungarian soil, the Belgian driver slotted into the pack of the highly respected Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, with as main ambition to leave his mark among the highly experienced drivers at this level of competition.
Not only did he justly fulfil his contract, but through clinching his first points as from his appearance in this top of the range single-make cup, the Liège based driver who had emigrated to the Emirates left quite an impression…
As from the free practice session on Friday, the scene was set. Clocking up the 18th best time even though he had not covered a single meter of a test run at the wheel of the Porsche 991 Cup #16 entered by the German MRS Cup-Racing team, John Wartique immediately drew the attention of one and all as from the moment he arrived in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Following a short but intense qualifying session on Saturday he found himself on the tenth row of the grid … « As was to be expected the most difficult part was to get the quintessence of the new tyres over only three laps, John explained. The limit is in fact far higher than I thought. But as compared to the free practice session, the difference with the leaders had already dropped, which means that my apprenticeship is working perfectly. »
However, all this needed to be confirmed during the 14 lap race this Sunday morning, a round that kicked off with … a pile-up right at the start! « I saw the problems appearing in front, managed to anticipate and avoid the obstacle, Wartique continued. I was obviously able to compensate my lack of experience by producing a far more aggressive driving style, which also produced blocking the wheels a few times and the odd other error, but taking the chequered flag in 14th position, and scoring my first two points right from the word go in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, I am truly delighted! In fact various people from Porsche came over to congratulate me, telling me that in such a context, a beginner can very quickly manage to integrate the top-20. And for me those words of recognition represent a great report following an exam. Mission perfectly accomplished … what a gas! I would like to thank the MRS Cup-Racing team who put their trust in me and made it easy for me to acclimatise to being under the colours of ‘Visit Abu Dhabi’. I think we will be seeing one another again in the future … »
All that is left now is to finalise certain contacts with potential partners, in order to be able to continue on this lavish run as from…..next weekend , at Hockenheim, always as a curtain raiser for Formula 1. We will keep you in the picture…
John Wartigue,