After being sidelined by mechanical problems in Portugal at the end of March, Thomas Eek Murstad seized the opportunity at Valkenswaard to prove that he hadn’t lost an ounce of his pure speed.
Limited to just 36 points in Montalegre, the Norwegian driver wasted no time in bouncing back in the Netherlands last weekend. With his engine failure in Portugal behind him, Murstad delivered a stunning performance in Race 1, setting the fastest time in all three qualifying sessions before narrowly missing out on victory in the final to a sensational Kobe Pauwels.
“Obviously finishing second in Race 1 was a bit harder to swallow than usual, especially after dominating qualifying,” admitted Murstad.
“I think Kobe managed to put the pressure on me and as the stress built up he found a way to beat me. Still, I’m very happy with how I started the weekend – it allowed me to score some big points. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t keep a cool head in the final. Now the goal is to keep up the pace we showed on Sunday and go for the first win of the season,” the Norwegian added after Race 1.
“Kobe was really close in the final and forced me to make mistakes. I had a good pace in qualifying and felt pretty relaxed, but the final showed me that I’ve still got some work to do. There’s nothing dramatic about finishing second, but I have to make sure that situations like this don’t happen again.”
Although Martin Juga was the fastest man in qualifying the next day, ahead of Murstad and Alexander Lindeqvist, the roles were reversed in the final.
Hampered by gearbox problems, Juga couldn’t hold on, and Murstad capitalized perfectly to take his first win of the season, ending the Valkenswaard weekend as the top scorer with 56 out of a possible 60 points.
It was a performance that delighted the Norwegian, who also secured the sixth win of his RallyX career.
“It was a fantastic weekend from start to finish. I won qualifying on Saturday before finishing second in the final and today was the complete opposite. I managed to get ahead of Martin Juga – the pole sitter – by taking the lead into the first corner. With overtaking opportunities so limited at Valkenswaard, a clean start was absolutely crucial.”
“I had some problems with this sector on Saturday, but I managed it on Sunday and kept a strong pace for the rest of the track. It’s a great feeling. And like I said during the winter break, in this class if you’re not fast enough it means you haven’t worked hard enough. You’ve got to go back and get it done. Today we saw that our approach really paid off.”
Murstad will now turn his attention to the next stop on the calendar: Riga, where he hopes to keep the momentum going.
“My last time in Riga didn’t go particularly well, but I’m continuing to study the track and find out what needs to be changed to be as competitive as possible. I think we’ll be stronger this time”
Back at the top of RallyX, his early season disappointment at Montalegre is quickly becoming a distant memory.
“There’s no doubt that I’m much more relaxed now than I was after Portugal. At Montalegre I was stressed because I just couldn’t get into the front group. But this weekend in Valkenswaard reminded me that my pace is still there. This is obviously boosting my confidence and I hope I can continue to build on this throughout the season.”