The Swiss driver closes the season with another victory in Shanghai and KIA Motors con la K3
Alex Fontana could not have hoped for a better end to his 2018 season: victory in the last round in China. Back in China for the last round of the China Touring Car Championship in Shanghai, in Race 2 the Swiss driver secured a fantastic win that was crucially important to the KIA marque.
From third on the grid, Alex rocketed into a lead which he defended through to the chequered flag, recording the fastest lap into the bargain. Alex’s win, which came after the one he obtained in October at the Tianma Circuit, made all the difference in allowing KIA to fend off the challenge of it rival Volkswagen in the race to the constructors’ title. This was the definitive racing consecration of the K3 2.0 turbo, a car the Swiss driver has himself helped to develop in recent years.
What made the feat all the more remarkable was that the Shanghai weekend had had an uphill start: in qualifying Fontana had been the quickest of the KIA drivers, setting the 11th fastest time and going on to finish Race 1 in 9th place. The inversion of the grid then provided an ideal opportunity to grab the decisive manche by the scruff of the neck. All this with a grid embellished for the occasion by adversaries of international fame such as Rob Huff, Pepe Oriola, Adam Morgan and Ma Qing Hua, who further raised the level of the challenge.
The 26-year-old Swiss drive thus closed his CTCC campaign with 48.5 points in the standings, the second highest of the foreign contingent who according to the regulations are not allowed to complete the full season, a great result, especially considering the technical problems encountered on several occasions during the year.
More in general, for Fontana 2018 has been an intense and successful year that saw the conquest of the Silver Cup title in the Blancpain GT Series with the Jaguar of the Emil Frey Racing team, not to forget the experiences in the European Le Mans Series, the German VLN and the Korean Supercars championship which confirmed his great versatility and above all his competitiveness.
Alex Fontana
"We did it! We managed to conquer the China Touring Car Championship constructors’ title, a result that means so much to me on a personal level. Two years have passed since KIA Motors signed me as a works driver for the development of the new K3, a car that I drove on its debut and on that I have helped make ever faster. This success is the fruit of our hard work in the face of competitive adversaries such as Volkswagen, Senova and Ford and coming up against international touring car specialists. And it was all the more significant that my victory in Race 2 proved to be decisive. I would also like to congratulate my teammate Leo Yi, the newly crowned 2018 champion. For me, an important season closes, but I’ll be back in 2019 ready to tackle future challenges.”