Honda drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro were left disappointed after a difficult World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) qualifying session in Slovakia, where they managed just ninth and 17th fastest respectively.
Ahead of the Slovakiaring circuit, both drivers had been confident about the weekend, believing that the circuit would suit the Civic. However qualifying proved to be a difficult session for the duo, who never looked like challenging at the front of the field.
Some consolation for Tarquini is that he will start from second on the grid for race two, thanks to his ninth fastest time in Q2.
The experienced Italian blamed the lack of performance on the extra compensation weight which the Civics must carry this weekend, which sees the car on equal weight with the pace-setting Citroën’s, despite having only claimed two wins so far this season.
“It was a very difficult qualifying for all of us,” admitted Tarquini. “Our car is clearly not happy with the 60 kgs. I can really feel it. The balance of the car is quite good, but we realised it would be very difficult to get into top five.
“I decided to go immediately with new tyres in the first few minutes to do my best and it was enough to stay in the top ten.”
Monteiro was at a loss to explain why he had struggled for pace so much, ending up almost a second slower than his team-mate down in 17th.
“It’s obviously very disappointing to qualify 17th for both races, especially because I had a nice balance with the car,” said Monteiro. “From the practice sessions I felt we were progressing but today the pace wasn’t there. We need to discuss and see what we can do for tomorrow.”
JAS Motorsport Managing Director Alessandro Mariani is disappointed to only have one car inside the top ten, with independent drivers Norbert Michelisz and Néstor Girolami only managing 13th and 18th fastest as well.
“Carrying this extra weight was never going to help us but we found a very good balance in the handling and we have improved the performance in certain parts of the track from last year,” said Mariani. “I was expecting we would have three cars in the top ten so I am disappointed and surprised at the gap between Gabriele and the other Honda drivers.”