Sweden’s WestCoast Racing team completed Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2016 TCR International Series at Circuito do Estoril in Portugal with a race victory and a podium finish (24 April).
The results came courtesy of great teamwork and a sublime performance from experienced Italian, Gianni Morbidelli, who leaves Portugal at the head of the TCR International Drivers’ standings.
Morbidelli and his WestCoast Racing engineers worked with precision in the garage and on the track to deliver a result that looked beyond them on paper as the Honda Civic TCR struggled for outright pace against rival cars during free practice and into the races.
Nevertheless, Morbidelli’s experience shone through and made the difference on the day, as his race one victory and a third place in race two were the result of patience and well executed passing maneuvers that matched the quality of the car WestCoast Racing had prepared for him.
However, the weekend yielded mixed fortunes for the professional Swedish team. Young Finn, Aku Pellinen, delivered solid points for seventh and sixth place results in only his second TCR International outing, while his American teammate, Kevin Gleason, had a second successive weekend to forget.
An electrical issue led to a misfire that sidelined Gleason on lap one of the first encounter and he was 12th at the conclusion of the second race, having been handed a penalty after WestCoast Racing was forced to affect repairs that contravened the championship’s parc ferme regulations.
The weekend belonged to Morbidelli, who said: “In the opening race I was patient and I said to myself that I would be able to push after Mat’o Homola early on, but that second position would be a good result for me. As I thought, he worked his tyres too hard and, as the race went on, I was able to put him under pressure and then pass him. It was a great win for WestCoast Racing and me personally. Race two was much the same, with me picking my moment and making the right moves to take a podium place from the Volkswagen of Jean-Karl Vernay.”
WestCoast Racing/Sportpromotion Team Principal, Greger Petersson, said: “I think Gianni (Morbidelli) made the difference today. He used his experience and pace and got the best from the team and his car to achieve these results. We are losing out to our rivals in terms of acceleration and top speed and this needs to be addressed, as we cannot rely on exceptional excellence every time.”
Pelinien is setting the bar high early on in his touring car career, but was hoping for better than the solid points finishes achieved in Portugal, saying: “In the first race, my car wasn’t right. I found it really difficult to drive and I did all I could to keep seventh position and hold Pepe Oriola back. As it turned out after the race, the car felt so bad because I only had rear brakes. I made a good start in race two, despite almost being put in the wall. I fought past Oriola after Gianni (Morbidelli) went through. I have to work out how this little Italian (Morbidelli) is so fast!”
Gleason was understandably underwhelmed with his weekend and said: “The car spluttered a couple of times on the out lap and I was hoping it was nothing major, but then I had issues with the launch control at the start and the car suffered a huge misfire. There was nothing I could do. My race was over before it had begun.
“Having to go to the back of the grid for race two, rather than taking up my second-row starting position made things impossible. The car was ok and I made up some places, but I was never really in the race. I had Mikhail Grachev in front of me and he can be a loose canon at times. Whenever I tried to make a pass, he moved over on me. Not a great weekend.”
The TCR International Series now moves on to the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest, where it will make up part of the support package for the FIA World Endurance Championship (6-7 May).
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.