Following on from the Belgian round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, John Wartique headed off for Monza, where the eighth round of the most competitive one-make competition on the international scene was being held. « The good news came through already on Monday, John commented. My new partner Paleo having been delighted with the outcome at Francorchamps, gave me the green light to compete in the two final meetings of the year, in Monza, but also on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, at the end of October. »
At the wheel of the Porsche 991 Cup #16 entered by the MRS Cup-Racing team, the Liège based driver who has emigrated to the United Arab Emirates, was fully aware that the task would not be an easy one at Monza, a circuit where for a major part the cars are on full throttle, and where the know-how when it comes to fine tuning can make all the difference, especially with the limited driving time offered up by the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Outcome: a 23rd best time during the free practice session on the Friday… “Once again the team told me not to concentrate on the overall result, but to focus on the lap time progress throughout the weekend, Wartique continued. Especially seeing that with my experienced teammate Christian Engelhart only in 10th position, the fine tuning of the cars was not optimal to tackle the weekend. On top of that several ‘Guests’ emanating from the Italian competition had decided to compete in this race, on a Monza circuit that they know like the back of their hand … “
These problems were confirmed on Saturday during the qualifying, with always a 23rd best time, but also poof that John Wartique’s car was lacking top speed. Not an ideal situation on such a circuit… However, it is a known fact that John is not the type to thrown in the towel, and this Sunday, he made up for his top sped handicap by going into the attack as and where possible, taking full advantage of the slipstream of his immediate rivals … “I had a good start seeing I promptly gained two places, the Paleo driver commented. Following that I was cautious when tackling the first chicane, where traditionally there are numerous incidents. I then managed to avoid two serious crashes just in front of me, and continued to work my way up in the hierarchy …