Ramos planning to go ‘all out’ in Feature Race after eventful P5 Sprint in Spa

Santiago Ramos had mixed feelings after finishing fifth at a damp Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race. The Trident driver was delighted with his pace but was disappointed by a couple of mistakes that took away his podium chances.He started third but lost a place to MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz early on, before Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León got ahead of him to leave him in fifth.Ramos made several attempts to get past Tramnitz both before and after León got past, but was forced to settle for fifth. The result equalled his best of the season after finishing P5 in the Melbourne Feature Race.SPRINT RACE: Beganovic holds off Minì to take victory at Spa-Francorchamps _Reflecting on the 12-lap event, Ramos said: “It was a decent start. We were struggling with traction because the track was damp. After T1 I managed to keep the position, keep third and then during the race I made a mistake at Eau Rouge. “I had a big moment that is not on camera but that's why I got overtaken by Tim and then after that I was trying to get him back. I tried once or twice but was not close enough and obviously I did not want to crash so early in the race. “I knew I had a bit more time but after that I made a big mistake with León. I tried to go too close on the car in front in Eau Rouge, got a snap, cut the corner and then I was basically screwed for the exit, so it was tough. Ramos was happy with the pace of his car during the Sprint Race“I tried to defend the best I could, at the same time being intelligent and trying not to do anything stupid. At the end of the race, it was clear that we were quicker than Tim but was a bit compromised for me, I had to put everything on the table, but I knew I had track limits. “I tried go with him in T12, but it was a bit too risky, then T13 he was a bit wide on the braking and then I went on the outside at 13. I had to take a bit of evasive action, because otherwise we would have collided. “But we did a great race to the end, we fought for five or six corners side-by-side, so it's nice to see none of us went out of the race. It’s not the result we wanted but it was a good race, a fun race, and I think it was a good race for the spectators as well.”READ MORE: Several drivers handed post-Qualifying penalties at Spa-FrancorchampsThat final lap battle between Ramos and Tramnitz went right down to the very last moments of the race, but it also involved the Mexican’s Trident teammates Sami Meguetounif and Leonardo Fornaroli, Campos Racing’s Sebastián Montoya, and Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning.It was an intense fight as Ramos weighed up the cost of trying to get past his MP rival, while also not wanting to lose positions to the cars behind.“It was tough,” said Ramos. “I was going all in with Tim because I knew I had the pace to overtake him. He made a mistake in T12, he went wide trying to defend from me, but I knew I had a chance. I had to try it, as they say if you don’t go for a gap that exists then you are no longer a racing driver. Starting in P10, Ramos is hopeful of adding more points and possibly a podium in the Feature Race“I saw the opportunity, obviously there was a bit of risk, but it was possible, maybe he squeezed me a bit too much in T13 that's why I went wide but, in the end, it was fair and square for everyone, we all raced clean. “It was quite emotional because I knew if I made a mistake with him, I was going to brake late and get overtaken by at least two, three cars so I had to be careful as well. I tried it even in the last corner, it was close, but the traction got me a bit out of place, but it was a nice race, nice try and a nice show for everyone watching the race.”READ MORE: Montoya happy after clean Qualifying with points in both races the target at SpaThis is Ramos’ first points finish since finishing 10th in the Barcelona Feature Race and while the result may not have been exactly what he wanted, the pace was encouraging. He is hopeful of using it in the Feature Race, where he is hopeful of fighting for a podium from 10th on the grid.“I think we have shown strong pace for the last rounds, we had it all the season,” he said. “It's a shame that we have had so many different factors that have not helped us. “But I think tomorrow we have a good chance to have a good race, even getting the podium, after seeing the chances of overtaking it's quite good, we go all out tomorrow and hopefully we can get some good points.”