Alex MacDowall is hoping to be able to challenge for his maiden WTCC win in Argentina this weekend, as the series makes its first-ever visit to the country at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo.
MacDowall, 22, has been overshadowed by bamboo-engineering team-mate James Nash so far in 2013, despite having scored the team’s first-ever podium in the championship in the season-opening race at Monza.
With none of the current WTCC drivers having experience of the Argentinian circuit, MacDowall is hoping that this will be something which plays into his hands as he seeks to improve on his tenth place standing in the points.
“I think it will suit our car, we’ve been on the simulator already and it seems to have some good fast, flowing corners which should play into our hands,” said the Englishman. “It’s quite a short lap and not too technical, I really think it should be good for us.
“We need to maximise the track time we’ll have and get in as many laps as possible so we can try a few different things with the set-up. Being a new track on the calendar, you’ve got to dial yourself in as quickly as possible. I’m pretty good at doing that so I’m looking forward to it.”
The European leg of the season finished at the end of June with the event in Portugal and MacDowall admits that he is desperate to avoid a bad weekend in South America, as the event is such a long distance to travel to.
“All of the events now are long-haul, somewhere like Argentina is a long way to go if you end up coming away with a couple of bad results,” admitted MacDowall. “I’m aiming for the overall top three for next weekend, if we’re going to stand a chance of winning a championship this year we have to get on the overall podium. I want that first win – as soon as we get the first one, I know more will follow.”
Brit MacDowall’s best result in the series to-date has been a pair of third-placed finishes in Italy and Hungary.