Alex MacDowall is not expecting the Slovakiaring which plays host to this weekend’s World Touring Car Championship action to suit his Chevrolet, comparing the circuit’s twisty nature to a go-kart track.
Brit MacDowall is currently eighth overall in the championship, having scored his first-ever podium in the season opener in Italy. However the bamboo-engineering driver has lowered his expectations slightly ahead of the weekend’s races.
“Slovakia is one of my bogey tracks to be honest,” said MacDowall. “It wasn’t great for us last season but I’m looking at it positively and aiming for two solid finishes. We’ve started this year with a much better level of performance so hopefully we can have a decent weekend – I’ll be happy with a couple of overall top sixes really.”
During qualifying for the 2012 event the highest-placed Chevrolet qualified in fifth – the worst of the season for the car which has dominated the World Championship in recent years. MacDowall and his rivals are all too aware of this fact.
“Last year in Slovakia was tough, even the works Chevys didn’t qualify that well,” added MacDowall. “It’s not a particularly strong circuit for our car, it’s like a twisty over-sized go-kart track. We won’t really know until after qualifying how competitive we’ll be.
“I want to get two solid races under my belt, close the gap in the championship and take it from there. As there’s only a week between Slovakia and the following round in Hungary, we’ve got to aim to take as many points as we can from this one and then go on the attack at the Hungaroring.”
First free practice for the WTCC takes place at 09:00 CET (08:00 GMT) on Saturday 27th April.