LADA Sport is preparing for a tough battle in the next round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the ultra-fast Shanghai International Circuit (SIC) after hard-fought free practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday (11 October).
With the trophies and plaudits from Beijing – a track well suited to the LADA Granta’s nimble chassis – safely packed in the Russian team’s locker for the trip back to Russia, LADA Sport faced performance difficulties at a venue that places the emphasis on aerodynamic efficiency.
In Friday’s test sessions, Rob Huff, James Thompson and Mikhail Kozlovskiy threatened the top ten places but opted for alternative setups while in search for a critical performance gain that would put them comfortably inside the top 12, allow them to partake in the second part of qualifying and have a shot at the reversed grid pole position for race two on Sunday (12 October).
Unfortunately, the LADA Sport trio’s best efforts came up short, with Thompson heading his teammates in 14th position, some four tenths of a second away from breaking into the elusive top 12.
“We knew it would be a struggle for us here at the Shanghai International Circuit, as we lose significant chunks of time to our rivals along the two long straights that is hard to make up through the twisty sections.” – said Thompson.
Both Huff and Kozlovskiy echoed Thompson’s sentiments and, despite their lowly grid positions, are looking forward to taking the start of Rounds 17 and 18 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), which get underway at 15.00 and 16.10 (CET +6) respectively, on the ultra-modern Shanghai International Circuit.
For more information on LADA Sport LUKOIL, please visit the official wtcc.lada.ru website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @ladasportwtcc on Twitter.