WestCoast Racing has been lifted by a sensational race win, delivered by Finnish rookie Aku Pellinen in only his third appearance in the 2016 TCR International Series at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (6-7 May).
A victorious outing in Portugal two weeks ago suggested the Swedish team had turned a corner following a turbulent start to the season, but there was still some doubt over its prospects for the Spa weekend.
Morbidelli entered Rounds 5 and 6 of the championship at the head of the Drivers’ standings following his Portuguese win, but the Italian was on the back foot with 30kg of success ballast aboard his Honda and subsequently qualified out of position in 15th, just behind teammate Kevin Gleason.
Pellinen, meanwhile, lost track time when he damaged his front splitter on the Eau Rouge kerbing in second practice and felt there was a lot more work to be done to aid his consistency going into qualifying on Saturday (6 May) afternoon.
However, WestCoast Racing was meticulous in its preparations. Discussions went down to the wire and a pre-qualifying adjustment to Pellinen’s car proved super-effective; for the first time, the Finnish young gun could push his Honda Civic TC1 and, unperturbed by his relative lack of track time in free practice, he flew to third on the grid.
Superb starts to the first of two TCR International races in the Ardennes Forest on Friday (6 May) saw all three WestCoast Racing drivers surge up the leaderboard.
Pellinen darted through the middle of the SEATs of Pepe Oriola and Dusan Borkovic to snatch the initiative before braking for La Source and drilled in a couple of qualifying laps to break the tow, well aware that tyre preservation would be easier in clean air and with no pressure from behind.
Ultimately, it was a mature and controlled performance from Pellinen. He found that consistency he has been chasing and was able to reduce his pace and manage his 2.5s advantage, which only diminished when his tyres began to fade in the dying embers of the race.
A strong first lap for both Morbidelli and Gleason saw them climb several places to seventh and eighth respectively. The teammates were in damage limitation mode at the tail end of a seven-car train led by Oriola in P2 and they held station until the conclusion of the nine-lap race, but benefited from the demise of one rival to score invaluable points for sixth and seventh place results.
Reflecting on his maiden win on the world stage, Pellinen said: “It’s a massive relief to get my first win so early on in the season and this should give WestCoast Racing and my teammates a lift and more hope for the rest of the year,” said Pellinen. “This was the first time my car felt right and my strategy was to put in some qualifying-style laps at the start and then simply manage the gap to the flag.
“My start was good and the car was very fast until lap six, when the tyres fell away and I started sliding around. Those behind me then started to close the gap and it’s difficult to stay focused and look forward when your rivals are bearing down on you, but I think I managed the gap well.My car isn’t quite perfect, but it’s encouraging that there’s still more to come.”
Temperatures soared for Round 6 of the 2016 TCR International Series on Saturday (7 May) and, with the top ten qualifiers reversed, Pellinen, Gleason and Morbidelli faced a tough race from eighth, 13th and 15th respectively.
Pellinen was unable to make full use of another lightning start in the pack but was assured in fifth position after the first few laps, while Morbidelli was an early casualty and Gleason carved his way through the field into eighth, most notably passing Jimmy Clairet’s Peugeot 308 Racing Cup and the Team Craft-Bamboo SEAT of Sergey Afanasyev after a protracted chase.
WestCoast Racing/Sportpromotion Team Principal, Greger Petersson, said: “It was a fantastic weekend from Aku (Pellinen) to finish first and fifth and I believe he has a bright future ahead of him. His performances and the progress Kevin (Gleason) and Gianni (Morbidelli) made in the races show that all of them had the pace to compete at the front.
“Kevin lost out in qualifying, but produced two very good race performances to finish seventh and eighth – that’s more than you would expect when you’re starting from 13th – and Gianni made a good recovery from 15th in the first race. From a team perspective, progress has been made and we’re definitely getting there. The field is quite evenly matched, but I trust Volkswagen will be given some weight now.”
Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2016 TCR International Series take place at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy in two weeks’ time (21-22 May).