The LADA SPORT ROSNEFT trio, Rob Huff, Jaap van Lagen and Nick Catsburg, all share a belief that the Russian manufacturer outfit can replicate its recent podium successes or even improve its form when the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) arrives at its next port-of-call, Slovakia (20-21 June).
Located approximately 40km east of the Slovak Republic’s capital city, Bratislava, the Slovakia Ring hosts the WTCC for the fourth time since its official opening as the country’s first purpose-built race circuit in 2009.
At 6km in length, the Slovakia Ring is an ultra-modern motor racing venue with a combination of high and low-speed corners, designed to promote the sort of bumper-to-bumper action the WTCC is renowned for.
The LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team has made notable improvements in each and every round of the championship since introducing the new-for-2015 Vesta TC1, steadily ascending the leaderboard to finally reach the podium places in Moscow, to the delight of LADA’s passionate and patriotic home fans.
Former World Champion, Huff, raced to fourth position in the first of two races on Russian soil and then bettered that result with a second-place finish, while LADA SPORT ROSNEFT rookie, Nicky Catsburg, finished fourth in race two to gift the Russian team three top-five places in one racing weekend for the first time ever.
Of course, the Slovakia Ring is a new challenge for the LADA Vesta TC1 racer, which takes its first steps on many of the world’s greatest race circuits this year. However, five round in to the 2015 WTCC season, the Russian racing car is looking increasingly competitive, as LADA prepares to put the road-going Vesta into production in September.
Predictably, the British ace and his two Dutch teammates, van Lagen and Catsburg, have hopes of replicating those results at the Slovakia Ring, which boasts similar characteristics with the Moscow Raceway, but the LADA SPORT trio acknowledge that qualifying towards the sharp end of the grid will be critical.
“Hopefully we can build on our Moscow performance, as it showed that the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT Vesta TC1 is developing as we had hoped,” said Huff. “The car felt great all weekend in Russia and was particularly good on the low-grip surface of the Moscow Raceway, which is also a characteristic of the Slovakia Ring, so I expect to compete towards the sharp end once again. Along with my two Dutch teammates, Nick Catsburg and Jaap van Lagen, we are hoping to once again put on a good show.”
Van Lagen added: “I’ve never been to the Slovakia Ring before, and the circuit’s layout is interesting to me. It will be my third race in the LADA Vesta and I can say that I understand the car a lot better now, especially after the Moscow Raceway, where we found a good setup for both races. My expectations for the Race of Slovakia are higher after the Russian round and qualifying inside the top ten is really important and very realistic. When you start from any position within the top ten, you can make up places and get some strong results – everything is possible during the races.”
Catsburg concluded: “I know a lot more about the LADA Vesta TC1 now so I definitely feel more comfortable, but I am still discovering things about the car and improving every time I go out. There is still a lot to improve. I raced at the Slovakia Ring in 2011; I have memories of the GT3 cars getting airborne over the crests and I remember the track for being fast with some very long turns. I am looking forward to racing there again. In Moscow, things went pretty well. I think it would be great if we can achieve similar results in the WTCC’s Race of Slovakia, but I think qualifying will be key and we should focus on doing a good, strategic job.”
The three-part qualifying session for the FIA World Touring Car Championship’s (WTCC) Race of Slovakia is scheduled to commence at 15.00 CET on Saturday (20 June), while the racing begins at 12.20 CET on Sunday (21 June), with all the action aired live on Eurosport.