The third challenge of the World Series by Renault Championship took place for the first time as a round of the FIA WTCC Championship on the Monza track in Italy.

Nelson Panciatici and his KMP Racing team all arrived full of determination to race in the first free practices on Friday but unfortunately, from the very first spin of the wheels, performance was not to be found.

After checking and testing everything on Nelson Panciatici’s car and not the slightest improvement to the problem, the KMP team led by Bruno Besson decided, after a first qualifier to the back of the grid, to change the engine and get rid of any possible doubts. They had to forgo the first race because the second qualifier would start, quite exceptionally, a few hours after the finish and they would have run out of time.

Despite a 19^th place which bears no reflection on the quality of the KMP Racing team, a definite improvement was noticeable as Nelson Panciatici was finally able to make some good times.

After a chaotic start at the lights-out where several drivers pre-empted him quite seriously, Nelson found himself down below 20^th place before he pulled himself back into the ranks to 7^th and to top it off with the 3^rd best time in the race just 1 tenth behind first.

Nelson Panciatici: “It was a difficult weekend because we were far from imagining such a sequence of events, the whole team was outstanding and I want to thank them. It paid off in the end because I had an incredible car for the second race, I overtook a dozen cars and a few more laps would have been even better, I really enjoyed myself.”

If the Team Manager of KMP Racing, Bruno Besson, was disappointed, he still has confidence because: “the great race Nelson performed shows our real potential but it’s frustrating to see that we can be in the front positions and then everything goes wrong this weekend. We were looking for grip the whole time and we’re as perplexed by this as the results were good during the winter trials when Nelson and Anton Nebylitskyi were very fast. Nevertheless, we leave Monza on a high note and it bodes well for the future. The whole team is gunning for a battle to the end!”

The next meeting for Formula Renault 3.5 will be on the F1 circuit in Monaco on 27, 28 and 29 May.

For more information on Nelson Panciatici, please visit www.nelsonpancia.com.

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