Robin Frijns left Portland with a smile on his face after securing back-to-back podiums, ending a barren run for he and the Envision Racing team.
The two-time race winner returned to Envision Racing this season after a year with Abt Cupra, but aside from a second place in the third round of the season in Diriyah, it’s been a challenging campaign for the Dutchman.
“Yesterday was a bit, I wouldn’t say ‘a relief,’ but it showed that we can still do it and today we showed it again, so it gives a better feeling,” he said on Sunday after finishing second behind Antonio Felix da Costa for the second consecutive day. “The team did a good job, we prepared well for these races and we made a huge step forward as we showed with the double podium.”
Despite the breakthrough weekend in Portland, Frijns doesn’t think the his and the team’s turnaround has been circuit-specific, instead crediting a wholesale change in the Jaguar customer team’s overall approach to events, and avoiding bad luck.
“It’s hard to say because we always had the pace during the season and we’re always quick, or quickish in practice … but I was always at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. “Looking at other drivers, both Jags were always in front so we changed the way we approached the race and the team’s helping me a lot with this now.
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“I sat down with them before Shanghai and we do understand it way better and it’s come our way now because I think we’ve put ourselves in a better position all the time.”
Frijns’ podiums come at a crucial time as speculation regarding his future is a paddock hot topic. Frijns only has a one year deal with Envision, and he knows he’s racing for his future now.
“I’m trying to prove a point, for sure,” he admitted. “It’s not nice seeing those rumors but I came back to Envision from Abt last year to be successful, but coming for one year, that’s been clear.
“It’s been a struggle and I do think we were not really prepared for some occasions at some races, which we have [been] today, but we learn from it and I think we showed this weekend that we can be competitive.”