Álvaro Fontes takes spectacular double podium finish

The Malaga-born driver claimed two podium finishes in SEAT León Trophy and D1 class at the Autódromo do Estoril and takes series lead. Fontes and his teammate van Oostrum put in a brilliant performance with the PCR Sport SEAT León Cup Racer during rain-marred event.
Álvaro Fontes took another step towards another domestic title after the Spanish Endurance Championship round at Autódromo do Estoril. Spaniard Fontes arrived in Estoril sitting second in the drivers´ classification in both Clase 1 and D1 and also in SEAT León Trophy, but with only one round left PCR Sport driver has established a solid lead.

Saturday broke with rain and the day continued in the same vein with Fontes and his teammate Mirco van Oostrum ranking 7th and 10th in both free practice sessions but with a clear goal in mind: to have a competitive car on Sunday. Anyway, Fontes managed to post 5th-fastest lap time in Q1 with his 2:08.251 and Netherlands´ van Oostrum, in Q2, set a lap time of 1:10.916 to secure 6th place in class. Race1 took place early in the morning on Sunday and, as soon as the lights went out, Fontes passed Lesoudier/Cosin for fourth place. One of the main goals for Fontes was to ensure he kept the car in one piece in tricky weather conditions but still moved up to second before pitting. His teammate van Oostrum crossed the finish line 3rd in D1 and 2nd among SEAT León cars. In race 2, on a drying circuit, van Oostrum handed over the Fontes in 8th place and the latter, faster than anyone else, recovered to P2 in SEAT León Trophy and 3rd in D1 class.

“It was an almost perfect weekend in difficult weather conditions and everybody at PCR Sport did a great job. By finishing ahead of my rivals in the championship, our title chances are very promising for Barcelona, but the title will be decided there and I want to insists to not taking anything for granted and anything can happen”, Fontes commented, adding that “I will remember race 2 for a long time. I took over the car from Mirco 8th and, despite handicap, I moved into 3rd and missed 2nd by only 0.004 seconds”.