In what was a remarkable turnaround of form for any driver in the pro series, Marcelo Rivera posted his best result so far this season, assumed team bragging rights and announced himself as a real podium threat for the remainder of the championship.
Qualifying 28th for a lowly finish of 23rd by his own standards at Round one, Marcelo stunned the field by jamming his ERT Commodore third on the grid for round two at Winton. It wasn’t exactly out of the blue, as everyone knows what Marcelo can do, but the turnaround in form and to be the leading ERT driver against class team mates was a huge statement for Marcelo.
Speaking with “Celo”, he maintained it was really no shock to him as he knew his Sebring result was out of the ordinary, but as soon as he good stuck into testing and tuning for round two, he stated “I just seemed to feel really comfortable in the car to be honest. I didn’t feel like I had to push like crazy to do a good lap time”.
Car #21 picked up a pair of seventh place finishes, netting him sixth place overall for the round and vaulting him up to 12th in the points.
The ERT cars have looked very pacey all year but may lack a little bit of tyre life, whilst Marcelo agrees Winton is a unique circuit, he thinks they may have found a better direction and will remain strong in the coming rounds.
We head to Red Bull Ring on June 29th, whilst draft and staying in a draft train is a big feature of the track, tyre life will also play an important role. We will be watching with interest to see if the ERT cars have found that little bit extra to keep their rubber. If they have, we're sure Marcelo will be right in the battle.
