New LADA signing Gabriele Tarquini believes that the marque’s Vesta World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) car has a lot of potential for the forthcoming season, despite being ‘very sensitive’ to drive.
Tarquini, who was confirmed at LADA at the beginning of February, has already taken part in testing of the team’s 2016 challenger at their Magny-Cours base in France. Having raced against the car in 2016 and now experienced it for the first time, the Italian is confident in the car’s potential in the coming season.
“I’m very pleased to have started working with LADA Sport Rosneft and I am excited about facing a new challenge in 2016,” said Tarquini. “Honestly, the new LADA Vesta surprised me in the first race of 2015 in Argentina and I think the potential is very high.
“In January, I spent some time testing last year’s car and developing some new software at Magny-Cours. It was wet and only consisted of out and in-laps, but I made some setup changes and felt a difference.
“I can say that the car is very sensitive and there is a lot of potential, but I need more time and miles behind the wheel so I can use my experience to try and improve the car – particularly its speed out of slow corners and drivability.”
Although the car is new to the 53-year-old Italian, little else in the 2016 will be, as the calendar was confirmed in February to consist of the same 12 circuits which were used for the 2015 season – something which Tarquini welcomed.
“I like going back to every circuit on the calendar, but I’m especially looking forward to revisiting Thailand,” he added. “The Chang International Circuit is very nice to drive, with extremely fast corners and challenging braking points, and I like the people and the atmosphere they create, with a stadium section close to the track!”