LADA SPORT ROSNEFT endured a difficult pair of races at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet France in the FIA WTCC today (28th June 2015) with a single point for Jaap van Lagen the only reward for the teams efforts.
The tenth place finish for van Lagen in Race 1 was only a small consolation in a race that saw Nicky Catsburg fail to make the starting grid with technical issues and Rob Huff starting a lowly 16th after his qualifying dramas, progress no further than half of the first lap where he was collected by the Chevrolet Cruze of Frenchman Gregoir Demoustier. Huff sustaining race ending damage from the heavy impact, so heavy in fact it would see Huff fail to take up his position to start Race 2.
In the second race, Nick Catsburg was able to take up his grid slot after good work from the team justifying the decision to miss Race 1 to repair the technical problem to allow a chance for a result in Race 2. Van Lagen was hoping for better too, with the possibility of a good finish that his front row starting position would offer.
As the race unfolded Van Lagen struggled to keep the pace with his rivals around dropping to 5th spot on the first lap and continued to fall back as the laps passed, eventually bringing his Lada Vesta TC1 home 11th, one place clear of teammate Catsburg who had fought his way forward from the rear in difficult circumstances.
It was clear to the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team that the characteristics and the high temperatures at the Paul Ricard Circuit were not well suited to the Lada Vesta on this occasion and the progress of recent races was not evident. The team will now place added emphasis on testing this week at the same track to understand the engineering and performance needs of the car to regain the impetus ahead of the next round of the FIA WTCC at the new Portuguese Circuit in Vila Real.
Rob Huff: “I really haven’t done a whole lot of meaningful laps this weekend which after recent results is disappointing. When you start back in the pack with the less experienced drivers you will encounter problems, I think he (Demoustier) just didn’t see me alongside in the frantic corners following the start and just turned in on me. From then I was a passenger in a spinning car that had broken steering and suspension”.
Jaap van Lagen, the only points scorer for the LADA SPORT ROSNEFT team this weekend said: “The car had a good balance in Race 1 but really lacked traction and this caused wheel spin and harmed the tires so it was very hard to push or defend out of the slower corners, it was very hot and 10th place was the best we could do today. I had to work really hard in Race 2 and had some good battles but was powerless to defend for the entire race”
Nicky Catsburg: “This was a really tough weekend for me, after the weighing issue in qualifying and then being unable to start Race 1 things weren’t really going for me. I am grateful to the mechanics for getting me to the grid for Race 2 but wasn’t really able to make much of it as the car just wasn’t suited to the conditions at all and I had a very hard race”.
LADA SPORT ROSNEFT will now test at the Paul Ricard Circuit this week before heading for the WTCC Race of Portugal on the Vila Real street circuit on the weekend of 10-12 July 2015 where they hope to get their 2015 WTCC challenge back on track.
