Pepe Oriola and the Tuenti Racing Team arrive at Suzuka for the ninth round of the 2013 World Touring Car Championship, a milestone weekend for the series.
Race two of the weekend will mark the 200th World Touring Car Championship race since the inception of the series in 2005 and for Oriola, the 2012 weekend rewarded him with a podium finish.
After a disappointing weekend at Sonoma Raceway, where the Spanish youngster failed to add to his Championship points tally due to a technical issue on the #74 Chevrolet Cruze and contact from an on track rival.
Despite failing to add to his Championship points tally, Oriola finds himself seventh overall in the 2013 Drivers’ Standings ahead of the Asian triple header.
“In Sonoma we had very bad luck and could not score,” explains Oriola. “Our goal ahead of Suzuka is to follow the line of work we started in Porto. We are very pleased with the performance we are getting because, for example, in the USA we were fourth in qualy, very close to the second and third. ”
“Suzuka is a track I like and where last year I got a good result by finishing second. It’s not very suitable to the Chevrolet and it’s also very difficult to overtake, so it will be vital to be fast and have a good performance in the qualifying session ahead of the race,” the Barcelona based youngster concluded.