WestCoast Racing drivers Kevin Gleason and Aku Pellinen have lamented the lack of track time during Friday’s TCR International Series practice sessions in Bahrain, which were both interrupted by red flag stoppages.
Due to the fact the series is supporting the Formula One event in the Middle East, the TCR Series is being run on a very tight timetable. As such, if the red flags fly during any session the clock continues counting down, as the end of the session time is fixed.
That left drivers facing shortened practice sessions on Friday, with two of WestCoast Racing’s drivers feeling the result.
“I think I had four flying laps altogether today, it’s certainly not enough, especially after breaking a splitter this morning,” explained Kevin Gleason, who was fifth fastest in second practice. “Other than that, it is not a bad start and the track is absolutely beautiful, very interesting, with an interesting combination of sections of very different type.”
Newcomer Pellinen was not pleased with his progress, despite being sixth fastest behind his team-mates. The leading Honda Civic of Gianni Morbidelli ended up topping the session.
“I certainly would have liked more mileage with the car and more time on this track which is new to me before going into qualifying, but I cannot change that,” said the Finn. “I’m not entirely happy with what I achieved today but I’ll try to improve tomorrow.”
Qualifying takes place at 13:00 local time (11:00 BST) on Saturday.