JQRacing young gun Max Mort is aiming to kick-start his season in Asti, following a difficult start to the 2019 championship for the Finn.
Mort has endured two trying weekends in Manila and Fehring, suffering repeated misfortune – despite showing promising pace, the ex-Junior European Champion sits outside the top ten of the Drivers’ standings in 11th. With the championship reaching its midway point this week in Italy, the 18 year-old will be looking to deliver a stronger set of results.
“So far this year I have had lots of smaller ups and downs – from having a 50% breakage rate going into the last qualy in Manila on Saturday, to finally getting a good run and finishing third in that qualy and then going on to finish 6th on the first round – then again having no issue-free runs on Sunday and finishing 12th, eventually breaking in the main final” commented Mort, looking back on the opening rounds.
“In Austria I showed really good speed; I was really always the first one after the top guys, finishing around fourth to seventh, but then got collected a few times in the qualies that ended up in breakages. Even in the finals just had nothing go my way.
“I think though that when I am feeling comfortable and I have none of the issues, the format suits me really well because I am able to really take it easy and get the best points I can get every round without taking unnecessary risks. I love some good wheel to wheel racing and, contrary to a few other drivers’ opinions, we have had a bunch of good, clean racing as well. You get what you give I guess, and not being overly aggressive in racing situations will get you quite far”
With the struggles of the opening rounds behind him however, Mort remains positive, and heads into Asti with high hopes of a more consistent weekend.
“To me it is definitely just about getting everything settled early in terms of setup and then just focusing on driving and having the right tyres most of the time, both of which I have struggled with a bit as well as some issues I have never had at any other races. I guess it always happens at these important ones. I have also been working a lot on this and giving this a lot of thought, and I hope that my efforts have been worthwhile and will have more things go my way in the coming rounds. We are only halfway through the season after all.
“If I can see I am fifth fastest my aim is to finish fifth. Just maximising the results I can get, as I have had good pace everywhere, it is consistency and reliability that have been letting me down.
“My focus has been on getting a car that I can put on track and know that I can feel comfortable with from the get go, on tracks that I am not as used to as the tracks back at home. I think I have found something I could feel comfortable with so I am feeling hopeful about Asti – but unlike the previous rounds I will have a more conservative attitude. I want to get a bunch of consistent runs in rather than having pace and getting nothing out of it.”
