It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for WestCoast Racing as it returned to competition in the 2016 TCR International Series.
The Swedish squad kicked off its title challenge with three new ‘Step 2’ Honda Civic TCRs in the TCR International curtain-raiser at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, and it looked to have a strong and evenly matched driver line-up, with the returning Kevin Gleason and Gianni Morbidelli and Finnish newcomer, Aku Pellinen, in its ranks.
All three drivers proved their worth in free practice and qualifying, translating their pace into fourth, sixth and eighth-place grid slots that would give WestCoast Racing a good spread and a real shot of success.
Race one on Saturday (2 April) was held over ten laps on the Bahrain International Circuit and it was Morbidelli who shone in the twilight by chasing down the leaders and earning a strong second place result.
Pellinen, meanwhile, adapted well to his new surroundings and raced to fifth, while the hapless Gleason retired as the innocent victim of a collision that occurred when a careless rival attempted an over-exuberant lunge.
Gladly, the second race on Sunday (3 April) presented the American with an opportunity to make amends and his determination was clear when he grabbed the lead, with Pellinen as his rear-gunner in P2 and Morbidelli P6.
As the race developed, it became clear that the Hondas didn’t have the outright pace of the SEATs and keeping them at bay would be a tall order, but WestCoast Racing’s drivers pushed on and did well to hold the initiative past half-distance.
Eventually, the pressure told and James Nash and Pepe Oriola took over as the race leaders, although the WestCoast trio still looked solid in third, fourth and fifth.
Unfortunately, the team was placed in a difficult situation when light contact between battling teammates, Gleason and Morbidelli, sidelined them both with two laps to go.
The incident projected the ever-quickening Pellinen to the final podium spot on his TCR International debut, but WestCoast Racing would receive one final blow when Pellinen received a 30-second penalty that demoted him to 11th in the final classification for allegedly jumping the start.
It was a clearly frustrated Team Principal, Greger Petersson, who said: “This will not be the way for WestCoast Racing/Sportpromotion to win championships and what was a strong team performance was tarnished by an unnecessary incident between two of our drivers. We will be sure to avoid this kind of situation in the future, as it negates a lot of the hard work the team has put in and removes the gloss of the race one result for Gianni (Morbidelli).
For more information on WestCoast Racing, please visit the officialwww.westcoastracing.se website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page and follow@WestCoast Racing on Twitter.