Kevin Gleason and Gianni Morbidelli scored a win and a podium in the TCR International Series on the streets of Singapore in tough conditions for the WestCoast Racing pair.
Gleason enjoyed one of his strongest races of the season in Round 17 on Saturday, with the American moving up to second early in the race from his third-place grid position.
When Target Competition’s Comini hit trouble mid-way through the race, Gleason was able to pounce and take the lead, ahead of the Swiss racer who was able to reset his electrical gremlin just seconds after losing the lead.
Gleason then managed the gap to Comini to take just his second win of the season, and the fifth for his Swedish team.
“It was a tough race and a nice second win for me, no doubt,” said Gleason. “I took a good start but had a lot of pressure from [Pepe] Oriola and Gianni in the early laps. Then, my pace improved throughout the laps and when Stefano lifted off because of some trouble, I could take the lead. In the closing laps though, when his car was back to OK, I was under great pressure again.
“[It was] definitely, a tough race, also because of the heat and night conditions, but my experience in long-distance races helped there…”
Morbidelli lost further ground in the championship battle over the weekend, with main rival Comini scoring a pair of second place finishes, whilst the Italian managed just a third in race one and fourth in race two.
The Honda driver’s fortunes were not helped by the fact that he was feeling unwell over the course of the weekend.
Commenting on race one, Morbidelli said: “[It was] a very tough race for me, also because I didn’t feel perfectly well these days and during the race it got worse. The last couple of laps I was close to fainting.
“Regarding the race, I lost it at the start. I had a poor kick-off, with the wheels spinning and had to let Comini, Gleason and Oriola go. Afterwards I fought hard with Pepe and Kevin, but they defended their positions well, and rightly so. Overtaking on this track is not easy at all.”