WestCoast Racing secured its best result of the 2017 TCR International Series with Gianni Morbidelli finishing in a fine fifth position this afternoon (11 June, 2017) in his #10 Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Adding to the strong result was teammate Giacomo Altoe, who brought his Golf home in eighth position.
“We are much happier,” began Team Manager James Nixon. “We have to thank Altoe family and Adria International Raceway for helping us to get our first test in before this race. We finally had time to learn the car and feel we have taken a huge step forward now able to compete at the front.
“Maybe there is some work to do adjusting the Balance of Performance (BoP),” Nixon continued. “A car with 30kg of ballast winning in Salzburg with no tow should maybe ring alarm bells to the guys determining the BoP. We’re still frustrated by this as this year it’s so hard with the BoP.
“We have great cars, a great team and two very impressive drivers. Altoe is making big gains already in what is his first year in the series and he’s really showing his talent against those who all have so much more experience.”
Morbidelli defended his second position on the grid off the line, which was the start of a valiant effort to keep his rivals behind him. With continued pressure from behind, the Italian veteran dropped to fifth, but still scored the team’s best race finish of the season.
This came off the back of scoring the team’s best qualifying result of the year, starting race one from ninth on the grid. However, a poor getaway at the start of the race saw him drop to 12th at the end of the first lap and after an intense fight with the other cars around him, he crossed the line in 13th.
Altoe also scored a strong points-finish in the second race. Having started 16th on the grid, the rookie racer worked his way up to ninth before a safety car period with only four laps to go. The safety car came out on lap 14 and the race extension of two laps gave Altoe the opportunity to make up further places. He took eighth on the restart into the first chicane, and held position to the chequered flag.
There’s only a short pause for the WestCoast team as they’re back out next weekend at the Hungaroring for round six of the TCR International Series.