Klaas van Snelheid has given a philosophical reaction to his race ending engine failure in today's Czech Republic V-Prix, stating his "podium run had to end eventually." The Dutchman - who was leading the Championship by 13 points prior to the race but now trails Enrique Ruiz by 12 following the failure - was running in fourth place at the time, having lost out to Will Taylor when the Phoenix driver overcut him after van Snelheid got stuck in traffic following his stop.
"The race was pretty shit from the off," van Snelheid commented. "The start wasn't great, and from lap three onwards it was just a case of following the car in front. The circuit is quite nice to drive, but it's crap to race on. Overtaking is virtually impossible, even with a large tyre delta - as we saw with Matteo and Nathaniel late on." "We pitted when we thought most people would, but it wasn't the cleanest of stops, and we came out behind a few guys who had stayed out, and the impossibility to overtake cost us so much time in that one lap that Will (Taylor) overcut us, and from then on I knew the podium was gone barring any dramas." "Unfortunately, the dramas then happened to us with the engine, but it is what it is. The podium run had to end eventually, it couldn't go for ever, and it's less painful to retire from a position like this than it would be had we been leading, or like with Matteo in Malaysia - that was a real kicker. But we've had some bad luck, now hopefully we get the reverse of that somewhen so we can maintain our challenge, but it's very clear we're facing an uphill battle now." As Mathershaw Porsche look more and more the leading contenders, it seems ever more likely Klaas van Snelheid will finish runner-up in the Championship for the fourth time in six seasons. This is prompting speculation the Dutchman is looking to move on from the British outfit, but he was quick to shut that down after the race when asked. "Absolutely not, no. I am very happy with this team and keen to continue winning and being successful with them. I have a contract until the end of 2024 and that is that." Downton team boss Bradley Downton backed this up with his own interview. "As Klaas said, he is contracted for next season and the one after. He is happy with us, we are happy with him. We are not however happy with our race today. We owe the drivers an apology because there were reliability issues that cost them, however both need to acknowledge they made mistakes that ultimately cost the team today too." "In the kind of battle we're in, these mistakes cannot be happening. They need to be eradicated, and that needs to happen now. We don't have time to wait for that."
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