The best weekends in the WTCC are always those where we start with a party and finish with another party and this was certainly one of those, with my Portuguese teammate Tiago Monteiro following up on the pre-race National St John´s Festival and a massive street party with a win that sent Vila Real into waves of celebration. I can´t quite remember seeing it before, maybe it was the festival of St Tiago!
For me it was more of a weekend of what could have been. All through practice on the challenging street circuit in the charming inland Portuguese city of Vila Real I was at or near the top of the timesheets. My JAS-prepared Honda Civic was performing exceptionally from the outset, going under the lap record from 2015 in the first session.
So after free practice I was fairly optimistic that I could qualify at the front of the grid which is so important on a street circuit where overtaking is at a premium.
Into qualifying and the sun was blazing down on the enthusiastic crowd and the drivers, so it was important to keep my cool in the car and on the track. Neither would be easy as the temperatures were soaring and the competition, mostly from my teammates, was hotting up. Q1 was no problem, easy quickest and into Q2 with a bit to spare and that proved to be more of the same as I progressed into the top five shootout, with the added benefit of running last on the road.
Tiago laid down a benchmark time that was slower than my Q2 time and both Jose Maria Lopez and Norbert Michelisz followed, making costly mistakes, so I was confident we could grab pole. However, it was not to be, as a small mistake running wide into Turn 4 cost me more than a second and I was destined for P4 and P7 starts in the Main and Opening Races respectively. Tiago took the all-important pole position, to the delight of his home fans.
As disappointed as I was at the missed opportunity, I relaxed that evening with my family and friends over from the UK – for a bit of support among the Tiagomania – taking in a bit of Vila Real for myself before the raceday programme. We started Sunday with a crazy autograph session at the Mall adjacent to the track. The queues of enthusiastic locals snaked for what seemed like miles as the drivers lined up to sign and take selfies in the sun while trying to keep cool before the races.
The Opening Race rolled on and I got a decent start, but the pack settled quickly without any incident up front to capitalize on. I settled in for a race long battle with the Volvo of Thed Bjork, who was in sixth, pressuring him the whole race hoping to force a mistake. On the final lap the pressure told and I made the pass for P6 and extra points that could prove very important in a tight championship. The move was one of only two overtakes in the whole race, making the point clearly on how tough it is to pass here and how important qualifying is.
In race two I got away cleanly again, holding station behind my other teammate Norby while Tiago led the field. Again, I pressed Norby hard all race but this time I settled for P4 not wanting to make any rash move on a fellow Honda driver.
The disappointing thing was that I had the pace and could not fully show it, although I did make the most of it claiming fastest lap of the weekend and the lovely Tag Heuer watch prize that goes with it. Thanks to the guys at Tag for a nice consolation prize, much admired and appreciated.
Tiago´s party went into full swing, congratulations to him for the win on home soil! It makes me wish we could have the WTCC return to a round in the UK as it’s a nice thing to perform in front of your home fans and certainly gives a driver that added lift, as we saw with the Russians and LADA last time out in Moscow. Honda still has its home event to come at Twin Ring Motegi later in the season, but first we have a short break before heading to Argentina, where I guess Lopez will be strong as ever. I will be trying hard to steal some thunder for Honda and myself and to pull back into the championship race, which is bunched up nicely after Portugal.
I will use the break now to stay in beautiful Portugal for a while before heading to the USA for some family celebrations, a little holiday and training time ahead of the trip down to Termas de Rio Hondo for the next WTCC round on 6-7 August.