American racer Kevin Gleason will continue to race with the RC Motorsport squad for this weekend’s World Touring Car Championship races at the Hungaroring, his second meeting in succession.
Gleason made his début last time out in Italy, with the independent LADA driver scoring points in his first-ever race in the championship at Monza.
Whilst the appearance was initially marked as a one-off with the potential for continuing, Gleason’s participation in this weekend’s races in Budapest has now been confirmed.
“It was definitely a big learning curve in Monza having my first go in a TC1 car,” said Gleason of his inauguration. “Unfortunately, on top of that I was also knocking the rust off from a long winter as I hadn’t raced or driven a racing car since early October 2016. With all that being said I improved every session and learned a lot which will help me moving forward.
“I have never driven the Hungaroring or even visited the country but I am looking forward to it as I have watched F1 race there for many years and the Hungarian fans love the WTCC, which should make for an exciting atmosphere.
“It will be a more technical track, so I am preparing the best I can with on board video and data from last season.
“Now that I have some idea what this car is like, I hope to improve my performance behind the wheel and qualify a bit better.”
Gleason has been preparing for his next WTCC outing by using a new simulator set-up back in the United States.
“I have found a new simulator place in Brooklyn called Racing Rooms which is fantastic,” said Gleason. “I haven’t done a lot of sim work in the past but I’m trying to utilise this to prepare as much as possible.
“While it’s not the same as the real thing, it does help me focus and put in the laps which is good for muscle memory.
“I want to make sure I improve my starts, as they were far from ideal at Monza. I think I am in for a new experience in the race – really learning the tyres – as they will be under more stress then Monza, so I will need to learn how to manage them over a race distance.
“All in all, I’m looking forward to my second race in WTCC!”