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Florindo proud after strong WTCR debut as Vila Real wildcard

Wildcard entrant Edgar Florindo said he was "very proud" after claiming a weekend-high P12 in Race 3 at WTCR Race of Portugal yesterday.

The Vila Real resident, who was competing in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO for the first time, impressed in a Veloso Motorsport-run Cupra TCR at his home track.

"I am very proud because I was able to be very fast, especially in the qualification sessions," said the Portuguese rookie. "I did some pretty good times. I have a handicap of 20kg extra on my car, which is a big difference to all the other cars in WTCR. Even with less experience with a lot less rhythm I was able to do a very good performance.

"Today [Sunday] was a really, really hot day so I would also like to give a word to all the public who were here with us in Vila Real for this circuit, and I think we gave a pretty good image of Vila Real and Portugal to the world."

Florindo finished P13 in Race 1 and P14 in Race 2 to underline a strong performance.

Rodrigues denied points finish in Race 3
José Rodrigues, protégé of Portugal's best touring car driver Tiago Monteiro, was also making his WTCR OSCARO debut as a wildcard. After overcoming an early engine change, Rodrigues was on course for a top-10 finish in Race 3 when a front puncture on the last lap put his older-specification Target Competition Honda into the wall. He was eventually classified P15.

Zdroj: fiawtcr.com