The Campos Racing driver leaves Austria after a difficult weekend in which he has scored more and more points.
Martí is still in second position in the overall championship standings and is looking forward to Silverstone and making further progress.
"It has been a complicated weekend in many ways. We expected more but we tried to make the most of every situation, despite making some mistakes that will help us to understand many things from now on".
Pepe Martí had one of the most difficult Sundays of his career. On a sporting level, it was a bittersweet weekend in which, despite the difficulties, he was able to score some points. But on a personal level, it was a hard day after the death of Dilano Van't Hoff, a great friend and battle partner, with whom he had shared many moments of kartig and Spanish Formula 4. They were even teammates in Formula 4 UAE in 2021 and the Asian Regional Formula in January 2022.
This Sunday, Pepe raced for him and his family.
The weekend boils down to experience regarding the future and a good learning experience in terms of tyre treatment for the upcoming races.
The controversial rules about exceeding track limits penalised him in qualifying, as his best lap time was taken away from him. Fortunately, his second best lap allowed him to qualify 12th, which meant he could take pole position in the sprint race.
The rain interfered with the first race of the weekend. Pepe made a great start and led the race in the opening laps and even after the first neutralisation by the safety car. The track got progressively drier and the car became more and more difficult to drive. Marti fought tooth and nail without making any mistakes, but could not avoid being passed by five rivals. In the end, he took the points for sixth place, which brought him closer to the championship leader.
In the second race, this time completely on dry track, Pepe progressively made up positions, being one of the fastest cars on the track. When, near the end, he had the front group within his reach, he made a mistake blocking at turn 3, which caused him to be passed by five cars. In the end he had to settle for 11th place, which ended up being ninth after several penalties from other drivers. He scored 2 more points, key to maintain his second place in the overall standings and to keep fighting for the front positions.
"It has been a complicated weekend in many ways. We expected more but we tried to make the most of every situation, despite making some mistakes that will help us to understand many things from now on and not repeat them. This year we are being competitive and we have to learn quickly from this and continue in the same line. The good thing is that we struggled with the soft tyre and now we have pace, which is a sign that we have improved and we can work well with it. It's a pity to lose points along the way, the truth is that we struggled, but now we are already looking ahead to Silverstone", Martí commented.
Pepe Martí and Campos Racing are heading to Silverstone where the next round will be held next week.