WestCoast Racing and Gianni Morbidelli moved to the top of the TCR International Series championship standings in Estoril, with the Italian claiming a win and a podium to kick-start his title campaign.
Morbidelli was the man to beat in the pair of TCR races in Estoril, with the Italian taking victory in the first race of the day, despite having failed to top the times in any of Saturday’s practice or qualifying sessions.
In race two Morbidelli was then able to follow up his win with a third-place finish, having gradually and persistently worked his way up the order through the race.
“In the opening race I was patient and I said to myself that I would be able to push after Mat’o Homola early on, but that second position would be a good result for me,” explained Morbidelli. “As I thought, he worked his tyres too hard and, as the race went on, I was able to put him under pressure and then pass him. It was a great win for WestCoast Racing and me personally.
“Race two was much the same, with me picking my moment and making the right moves to take a podium place from the Volkswagen of Jean-Karl Vernay.”
WestCoast Racing Team Principal Greger Petersson praised his experienced lead driver, who now tops the standings by just one point from Craft-Bamboo Racing’s James Nash.
“I think Gianni made the difference today,” said Petersson. “He used his experience and pace and got the best from the team and his car to achieve these results.
“We are losing out to our rivals in terms of acceleration and top speed and this needs to be addressed, as we cannot rely on exceptional excellence every time.”
There was not such good fortune for the Civic of driver Kevin Gleason, however, who suffered an electrical problem in the first race, which then caused a penalty in the second when the team had to break the parc fermé conditions to make the repairs.
The team’s third driver, young Finn Aku Pellinen, managed a pair of solid top ten results to keep him inside the top ten of the championship.