: Duncan Tappy Jerez summary

DUNCAN TAPPY ENDS INAUGURAL SUPERLEAGUE SEASON WITH PODIUM FOR SPURS

Race 1:
Qualified 9th
Finished 3rd

Race 2:
Reverse grid start position 16th
Finished DNF

Duncan claimed his third podium of the six event season for Spurs today in Spain. The first race had an amazing climax with title challenger Liverpool running into mechanical problems on the last lap handing the title to Beijing Gu'Aon. Duncan's race had progressed well with an overtaking manoeuvre on the back straight to gain a place from Galatasaray. He jumped ahead of Sevilla in the pitstops and was lying in fifth in the closing stages when the drama of a fuel pump issue for Liverpool moved him up to fourth. Late news of a time penalty for Corinthians dropped them through the order so Duncan took third place.

Race two was always going to be tough starting from the penultimate row under the reverse grid rules. What made matters worse was that from lap four Duncan's car had a gearbox problem which meant driving in manual. Having been running in tenth, Duncan pitted but the gearbox problem got worse and the car became impossible to drive leading to his retirement.

Duncan Tappy

"It's good to be back on the podium for the last event of the year. I was pleased with the way that I drove this weekend. We were struggling with the car, particularly in qualifying, but the first race showed that we could have the pace. Race two was disappointing. With the gearbox problem the only solution was to drive in manual but that means driving in a completely different way. The pedals are set up for the automatic shifting and it's very difficult to drive in manual mode. The problem got worse after pitting so I didn't really have any choice but to retire.

"As far as the season is concerned I've been very privileged to be involved with Superleague Formula. I'm proud of scoring three podium places from the five events that I've driven for Spurs and hope I can be involved again next year. It's an exciting formula and a breath of fresh air for motorsport. I'd like to thank everyone at Spurs for giving me the opportunity."

-credit: dt