WestCoast Racing’s new look line-up certainly threw up a day of surprises over the TCR International Series’ single-day, two-race event at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy (21 May).
The event started with free practice and WestCoast had pace with its new drivers Mikhail Grachev and Alain Menu, who quickly got to grips with their Honda Civic TCRs.
Regular driver Gianni Morbidelli was quick from the outset and took his practice pace into qualifying to deliver an excellent and commanding pole position while Grachev showed signs of promise in fifth with Menu backing him up in seventh.
However, the day would unravel for Morbidelli and his WestCoast Racing team in race one; after a decent start, Morbidelli’s Honda was affected by a recurring power steering issue that has blighted his season and a dramatic slowing through Imola’s tighter turns caused Menu to collect his Italian teammate.
Grachev held on to fifth at the line to score his first points of the season, but both Morbidelli nd Menu were sidelined by the incident and WestCoast Racing worked frantically to repair the stricken Honda’s and rectify the steering issues before race two.
To its credit, the Swedish team ensured all three Hondas were able to take the start, Grachev from P2, Morbidelli from the back of the grid and Menu from the pit lane.
Grachev got away and raced well, passing Jordi Gene for the lead and pulling a gap on the chasing pack to bring home a well-deserved, if not unexpected victory on his WestCoast Racing debut, while a hub failure – a consequence of the damage sustained in race one – took Morbidelli out of contention.
Grachev said: “I am very, very happy with this victory. I’m afraid I don’t have the words to explain how happy I am, as I’m not used to saying this! The deal for me to drive a WestCoast Racing Honda was quite late, so I have to thank the team for its hard work and for welcoming me. We had a problem with the car after testing and a lot of work had to be done to correct it. It was strange to be chasing what was my car until now, but it made working out when and how to overtake a little easier knowing it so well.”
WestCoast Racing Team Manager, James Nixon, not only complimented Grachev, but also his team’s efforts over a full day of on-track action, saying: “That was a really hard day. The guys had so much to do with practice, qualifying and the races on a single day, but they did a great job, particularly to get the two damaged cars out in race two. Gianni (Morbidelli) was on a charge all day and was very quick, showing the determination he had in Estoril. This time the car let him down when he had the pace to win. Obviously, Mikhail’s (Grachev) win was a really nice surprise and it was great to come away with something for all of our efforts.”
On the incident with teammate Menu, Morbidelli said: “There was nothing Alain (Menu) could do to avoid me. It really was unfortunate, as it put us both out, but my steering just stopped working and I was across in front of him. There was no fault on his part or mine.”
The TCR International Series now moves back to its typical weekend format at the Salzburgring in Austria (4-5 June), where WestCoast Racing enjoyed the spoils of victory in 2015.