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Team thrilled as teen comes of age in WTCR

Boutsen Ginion Racing Team Manager Olivia Boutsen has praised Benjamin Lessennes after the 18-year-old equalled a famous record in Hungary on Sunday.

Lessennes placed fifth in the last of three races at the Hungaroring, matching the previous top finish by a Belgian driver in world touring car racing.

Back in 1987, Pierre Dieudonne placed fifth in an FIA World Touring Car Championship race at Fuji. Honda Civic Type R TCR driver Lessennes has now equalled that achievement.

"I'm delighted with the results," said Lessennes. "All weekend we've had strong top-six pace and [on Sunday] we managed to turn that into two great results with eighth and fifth. If you'd told me one month ago that I'd have a top-five finish within two WTCR events, I'd have taken it. I knew here would be easier than Marrakech because Hungaroring is a regular circuit and together we've had a very good day."

Olivia Boutsen added: "It has been fantastic for Benjamin and for the team. Despite his lack of experience of this circuit, he's scored our best result in WTCR in two successive races. Fifth place in only our second weekend in WTCR is more than we were expecting, and this is a great platform to build on for the next few events. It's a shame that Tom [Coronel] suffered race-ending damage in both races, but he'll bounce back strongly."

Zdroj: fiawtcr.com