LADA SPORT ROSNEFT came within a lap of what would have been a sensational Main Race victory in the FIA World Touring Car Championship’s (WTCC) annual visit to Slovakia, Dutch driver Nicky Catsburg losing out abd falling to third on the final lap.
Catsburg recorded the second fastest time in qualifying – LADA SPORT’s best ever qualifying result – and sensationally set about passing multiple World Champions Yvan Muller and Jose Maria Lopez for the lead.
From there, the LADA driver looked assured while drawing out an advantage at the front of the field, when, with three laps remaining, tyre wear became an issue and enabled Lopez to reduce the gap once again.
Catsburg struggled to keep the LADA Vesta ahead and, despite his best efforts, a pass from Lopez also allowed an opportunistic Tiago Monteiro through into second position, and the Dutchman eventually brought his car home in a creditable third place.
A podium – the first for Catsburg in his short touring car career – was a great result for the Russian LADA SPORT team, but the Opening Race earlier in the day saw Gabriele Tarquini take the plaudits for succeeding where Catsburg had not; the Italian veteran used his skill and experience to keep Lopez at bay and achieve a battling fourth place result.
Catsburg had been less fortunate and fought back from dead last to tenth after running wide early on, while teammate Hugo Valente failed to capitalise on his strong practice and qualifying pace, finishing outside of the top ten in race one and failing to reach the flag in the second encounter of the day.
However, the day belonged to the hard working LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team and the hard driving Catsburg, who said in the post-race press conference: “Of course, it would have been nice to finish in P1. I had hoped to hold off Jose Maria (Lopez) as my tyres faded, but third is an excellent result for the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team and me personally, as it’s my first ever podium in the WTCC.”
Reflecting on his performance in the day’s Opening Race, Tarquini said: “It was a hard race from the start and there were a lot of good battles, so I had to use everything to keep fourth place. The battles caused me to use my tyres more than I would have wanted early on and I fought understeer from the second lap, so I am delighted with the result for the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team. I am sure more will come.”
Hugo Valente, who had a disappointing day after showing fantastic speed in practice and qualifying, said: “I am very happy for the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team and for Nicky (Catsburg). As for me, I was quite unlucky today. I had an incident in the Opening Race and, while I had a good start and won a few positions to hold sixth in the Main Race, I sustained a puncture and that was the end for me. I now look forward to the WTCC Race of Hungary.”
Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) takes place at the Hungaroring near the Hungarian capital, Budapest (22-24 April).