Following a brief pause in his racing calendar, Salih Yoluç is gearing up for back-to-back race weekends in the Blancpain GT Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. From there another two events come in quick succession.
First of all, there is the small matter of the Endurance Cup title this coming weekend at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Taking nothing for granted, the Turkish racer aims to win the Pro-Am standings with Oman Racing with TF Sport. With a 16-point advantage, just needs a top five finish regardless of what his rivals achieve to claim the championship.
From Spain, Salih heads directly to Japan for the second round of WEC, aiming to maximise the pace shown at Silverstone in the new Vantage GTE. He then has a short break and is back in action in the FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup and then onto Shanghai for WEC once again.
Q) There’s been a bit of a break since the last race for you at WEC Silverstone, what have you been up to?
“I have had a one test day in Vallelunga for Nations Cup. It is going to be busy few weeks with four very important races in just two-months, so I have been trying to relax a little bit!”
Q) You’re heading to Barcelona this week for the season finale of the Endurance Cup. With the 16-point advantage, how do you approach the race weekend?
“We try to treat it just as a normal race weekend, so the aim is to win! Obviously, we have a handy advantage, but we also want to have a 100 percent podium streak, so another win would be nice.”
Q) The Spa 24 Hours went perfectly for you; how do you expect the car to perform in Spain?
“It should be good. I haven’t been to Barcelona for two years, so I haven’t driven on the new surface yet. Everyone says it is much better to drive now and with our package we expect to be competitive.”
Q) After Barcelona, you’re off to Fuji Speedway for the second round of the championship. Silverstone was perhaps a little disappointing, but you had the pace to win. What are your expectations there?
“I expect to win and nothing else. We just need a race without unlucky incidents and that win will come.”
Q) It’s your second WEC trip to Japan, it’s a very different culture so are you hoping to take in the sites and scenes of the country?
“I’ll visit Tokyo again like last year. I absolutely loved Japan and enjoyed my time there and it really is one of the races I look forward to most.”