Off the back of five wins so far this year with WestCoast Racing, Mikhail Grachev had high hopes of adding to his tally today (20 November 2016) in Macau in the Guia Race 2.0T. However, an error in qualifying left the Russian racer fighting for a strong result – one he would later deliver with a fine run to seventh position in his WestCoast Racing Honda TCR.
Having announced extended Acronis sponsorship ahead of the race weekend, practice and qualifying around the streets of Macau was far from trouble-free for Grachev.
The WestCoast Racing team however has a depth of knowledge and with teammates Tiago Monteiro and Gianni Morbidelli running at the sharp end of the field, Grachev knew that he could use his race-craft and secure a good result if he could avoid the inevitable incidents and accidents.
Grachev started from the back of the field in the Qualifying race, but with some solid aggressive passing and attrition as others found the unforgiving Armco, he secured 11th position for the main event shortly afterwards.
This second race of the morning also proved to be a fraught affair with very little opportunity of real racing between safety cars and red flags. Grachev however steered clear of trouble as those around him found the wall and jumped from 11th to seventh on the opening two laps before the safety car was called into action.
There was little opportunity for gains thereafter and with just seven laps complete, time was called and Grachev was forced to settle for seventh position.
“First of all I need to thank the WestCoast team for their efforts this weekend. I made it a bit harder for them than I should, but in the end, we got a solid result today with Tiago (Monteiro) and myself showing well.
“As is always in Macau nothing really ever goes to plan and I was on the back foot after the accident in qualifying. But thanks to the team – some good strategy – some luck with the fed flags and some good racing, I’m very satisfied with P7 in the end. I had great support from Acronis this weekend and hope they enjoyed the Macau rollercoaster!”