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Bacheta Q&A: “I don’t feel like I’ve had it easy”

Championship leader discusses unbeaten run and whether he can make it six from six

After four thrilling F2 rounds, Luciano Bacheta remains the man to beat after scoring a record-breaking four consecutive wins and building a sizeable 46 point lead. Despite this, the Brit insists he's not had things all his own way with strong competition from drivers such as Mathéo Tuscher, who picked up his maiden podium last time out in Portimáo, Kevin Mirocha and German Markus Pommer - the latter looking forward to home advantage at the next F2 rounds. These take place at the Nűrburgring on 25-27 May when 22-year-old Bacheta will be hoping he can make it an unprecedented six wins from six races but, as he tells Formulatwo.com, anything can happen…

First of all, how are you and what have you been up to since the last F2 rounds at Portimáo?
Yeah I'm good thanks and been busy doing extra training. I do a lot of training anyway but because we've had a long break between races it's good to keep on top of things.

We're a quarter of the way through the season and you've won all four races - did you expect things to go quite so well?
We knew we had good pace and felt confident. At the Silverstone test we just spent the time learning the car whereas others went for outright pace, but we were still consistently in the top five so we knew the speed was there to be on the podium. During the opening rounds I was just hoping for strong results and mindful that I didn't want to have to play catch up. I guess that's what I showed too as I was running third in race one and just took the opportunity when it came.

We travel to the Nűrburgring next - what are your thoughts on this? Can you make is six wins from six races?!
It's good to be back racing after a long break. I know the track too which is good whereas I didn't in Portugal. I'll try to make it six from six [laughs]! With any race I always try to be at the front and go for the win and do the best I can, but to be honest I'm not thinking about it.

And what about your competition for the next rounds?
I think Tuscher and Pommer will be strong. Pommer will be on home soil and Tuscher really pushed me in Portugal and despite his age has got a really strong head on him. The top 10 drivers are all very close. Everyone has got good pace and all have a shout. Either way it will be unpredictable and very close, especially qualifying like it was when I raced in GP3 there.

Does it add more pressure on you knowing you're the man everyone wants to beat?
I don't see myself as the man to beat. I've not dominated as every race has been close and in three out of four I've had to make an overtake for the lead. I've not had it easy. I still feel I need to improve my pace as it was good at Portugal but not so good at Silverstone. Anyone can win in F2, they just need to get it right at the right moment.

Finally, we were talking to Mirko Bortolotti recently who mentioned that you had 'stolen' his championship winning number four - was that deliberate?
No! I raced with number four in T Cars and also Formula Palmer Audi, plus I was number 40 in karting so it's a number that I've always had and not something I stole from Mirko!
Rounds five and six of the F2 series take place at the Nűrburgring on 25-27 may with full coverage, including live web streaming, on www.formulatwo.com.