WestCoast Racing once again returned to the top step of the podium in the TCR International Series at an event supporting the Formula One World Championship. This time with Kevin Gleason taking victory in Race 2 following Mikhail Grachev’s win in Singapore last time out.
Gleason was joined on the Formula One podium by Gianni Morbidelli who battled his Honda Civic to third position and another trophy for the Swedish Team.
This was the seventh victory of the season for WestCoast in a season which has been both successful and frustrating. The car whilst rapid, has been plagued with recurring mechanical issues outside of the team’s control and this has effected consistency and prevented a concerted championship charge.
Across the weekend – in the unabated heat and humidity – that racing in Malaysia brings, the mechanics and engineers worked tirelessly to prepare winning machines for the drivers and after Morbidelli failed to start Race 1 with steering issues and Grachev retired after leading with damage, the win for Gleason in Race 2 was a deserved reward for the crew.
It was also a welcomed and much needed win for Gleason who returned to the team in Singapore after missing a number of races due to budget issues.
Team Manager James Nixon said: “It’s great for Kev, he is always popular in the team and he drove really well to win. The weekend has been difficult, particularly for Gianni whose car has been quite unreliable and has been blighted by bad luck all season so it was nice for him to take the podium with Kevin for what has been a good weekend overall for the team that could have been so much better had things gone our way in Race 1 with Grachev leading and looking good for a result until the contact…”
Gleason added: “It’s great to be back winning with this team. They are a great bunch of guys and gave me a great car in Race 2 after making some inspired changes from the first race where I struggled a bit for grip. I hope this win was fair reward for all the hard work they put n this weekend and all of those who worked so hard to get me back into the series.”
The team now regroup before the season finale on the streets of Macau where they took a front row lock-out and Race 1 victory in last year’s event and will be hoping for more of the same to close out the 2016 TCR International Series.