WestCoast Racing suffered a setback in its bid for the inaugural TCR International Series title in the previous round in Sochi, with lead driver Gianni Morbidelli hit by a turbo failure which saw him miss the start of race two.
Morbidelli and his Honda Civic had struggled for pace throughout the early stages of the weekend, and come qualifying the Italian could only manage eighth on the grid – his second worst performance of the season so far.
Having made up just one position in race one to finish in seventh, Morbidelli was then unable to take the start in race two due to a turbo fault on his car.
“We struggled to get a good setup all weekend and had a lot of understeer, which seems to be the case when the temperatures are hot,” said Morbidelli. “I did what I could but that wasn’t really enough and the mechanical issue in race two has put us back in the championship.”
As a result, Morbidelli has slipped to third in the championship, 13 points behind new leader Stefano Comini.
Picking up the pieces for WestCoast Racing in race two was American racer Kevin Gleason, who brought his car home in sixth position after a race-long battle with the SEAT of Jordi Gené to add to his eighth in the first race.
“I had a slow start to the weekend on a track I had not seen or tested on and, having arrived late into Russia after a 23-hour journey, I was up against it from the start,” explained Gleason. “Despite carrying maximum ballast, I got stronger and matched Gianni for times in race one.
“In the second race I think I showed I am getting stronger in race situations, particularly in defending my position. In the end we haven’t lost too much ground in the championship, as we scored points in both races where others didn’t.”
WestCoast Racing Team Manager James Nixon called the weekend the toughest of the season so far, with it being the first not to yield a podium result for the Swedish team.
“That was the toughest weekend of the championship so far,” said Nixon. “The circuit was probably the worst on the Calendar to carry success ballast and we had mechanical issues with Gianni’s car and a big effort from all the guys sadly didn’t result in a resolution. We will regroup for the Red Bull Ring and I hope to have a chance to undertake some testing beforehand.”