Nissan’s Oliver Rowland was philosophical about his final lap disaster that robbed him of would have been a second victory in two races at Misano, aware that he is still in contention for the title this year.
The Yorkshireman was leading on the final lap before a loss of energy left him coasting, handing the win to Tag Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein.
Rowland told Motorsport Week that the issue was caused by a glitch in the car that miscalculated his remaining laps.
“It was a software procedure that was missed on the grid,” said Rowland, adding: “when I crossed the line at the start, it counted down a lap which it shouldn’t have done, so I had one lap less for the rest of the race.”
It was not all bad for Rowland this weekend, having been handed victory of race one late on Saturday night after the dramatic disqualification of Antonio Felix da Costa.
It handed him his fourth straight podium finish of the season, which puts him firmly in the race for the Drivers’ Championship. Brushing off any thoughts of this on Friday, Rowland admitted on Saturday that, despite finding it “hard to believe”, he and his team “have to start to consider ourselves to be there”.
After Sunday, Rowland seemed more sure than ever of his title credentials being a reality.
“I think it has taken us a bit by surprise, I knew the team was good and the package was good, but I didn’t think it was this good! We have a bit of work to do in a couple of areas, but we are in the hunt.”
