WestCoast Racing hardly had time to pause following the Belgian round of the TCR International Series as they travelled to Monza, Italy for round four of the championship this weekend (12 – 14 May, 2017).
The results so far this year have not been what the team – nor Gianni Morbidelli and Giacomo Altoe would have hoped for – and again at Monza, the team had the speed in the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, but were unable to make the most of it when it counted. This, combined with numerous on-track incidents, made for a disappointing Italian weekend.
“It’s fair to say that we’re having a tough start to the season,” said Team Manager James Nixon. “It appears the International series has some of the worst driving standards currently in any series I watch.
“Sadly, most of these incidents seem to go un noticed by the people that count! We were passed yet again more times off the track than on, but no positions given back. Maybe it’s better to have no rules but it’s not the kind of motorsport we want for the team. As a team we need to look at our options tomorrow and decide if we continue to support this philosophy of racing.”
Despite their best efforts, neither driver was able to make it into the top 12 in qualifying, just missing out with the 13th and 14th best times.
The first race saw Morbidelli boxed in at the start by a rival spinning at turn one, dropping him down the order. Altoe meanwhile was about to exit the race at turn three following contact at the first corner that broke the front right suspension.
Morbidelli battled on, chasing and then passing Mat’o Homola and working his way into tenth position. Contact with Dusan Borkovic, who turned Morbidelli sideways mid-race at the first chicane, lost the Italian two further positions and forced him to defend from those behind and finishing in 11th position.
Lining up 13th and 14th again for race two saw Morbidelli and Altoe both make gains off the start, the latter taking advantage of first corner incidents to vault ninth, with Morbidelli slotting in two positions behind.
The race settled down a little with both driver holding position before Altoe lost ground to run 12th, a position he would maintain to the chequered flag. Morbidelli meanwhile went off at turn one on lap eight as he battled for position, losing time and positions as he dropped to the tail of the field before retiring a few laps later.
The team have a pause ahead of the next round of the TCR International Series race which takes place at Salzburgring in Austria on 11 June.