France’s Yann Ehrlacher will be seeking to defend his lead from compatriot Yvan Muller as the FIA World Touring Car Cup hits the streets of Vila Real in Portugal for this weekend’s WTCR action.
Honda’s Ehrlacher has a slender nine-point advantage over his Uncle Muller after 12 races of the current season, with Muller having failed to score a single point last time out in The Netherlands a month ago.
Part of Muller’s struggles could be put down to the Balance of Performance [BoP] change which struck the Hyundai i30 N TCR cars ahead of the races in Zandvoort, a circuit which was not necessarily expected to suit the cars.
Since then the ride height of the i30 N has been reduced from 100 mm to 90 mm, although the car remains limited to 97.5% engine power, together with the Honda.
Muller himself has never won before in Vila Real, but he has twice finished as runner-up, in 2015 and 2016. Ehrlacher only has his experience of the high-speed street circuit from 2017 to draw upon, when he crept into the top ten with ninth in his independent LADA in race one.
The weight tables will turn with the recalculation of the WTCR compensation weight for this weekend, which is based on the results of the last three events. With the disastrous showing for Hyundai in Holland, and Honda’s strong form, the i30 N cars will carry 10 kg less at 50 kg, whilst the Civic will have the most ballast at 60 kg of compensation weight.
The joker lap returns
For the second successive season the Vila Real circuit plays host to the joker lap, which will see drivers forced to take an alternative route through the final corner on the lap once per race.
The joker lap cannot be taken before the third lap, but with there only being 12 laps per race expect there to be a flurry of activity on almost every lap thereafter as the 27-car field takes to the different route at different stages in the race.
“The ‘joker’ lap is very good,” believes series leader Ehrlacher. “It’s something which is new and attracts fans. On a street circuit it’s really hard to overtake so it gives you a good opportunity to overtake.”
Continuing the momentum
Zandvoort saw the tide turn for a number of drivers in WTCR. With the well-documented Hyundai struggles came new drivers to the top of the rankings. DG Sport’s Aurélien Comte claimed a first-ever win for the Peugeot 308 TCR, lifting the Frenchman to just outside the top ten in the points.
WRT’s Gordon Shedden also had a strong weekend in the Dunes, and heads to another new circuit equal on points with the series’ newest race winner Comte. With Vila Real being another high-speed circuit, the Audi is expected to be strong and the Scot performed well when taking on the streets of Marrakech for the first time earlier in the year.
Wildcard racers
This weekend will see Portuguese racers Edgar Florindo and José Rodrigues join the field as the local wildcard entries. Florindo, 30, has previously won in TCR Portugal and will carry the support of the local fans as he lives just a stone’s throw from the circuit in Vila Real.
Rodrigues has been busy making a name for himself in Europe, having raced in TCR Germany in 2017 before switching to TCR Italy in 2018, both seasons with Target Competition. The 28-year-old also made a one-off appearance in Vila Real in the ETCC last year, so has some prior knowledge of the circuit to carry himself into this weekend.
The timetable
The action is well spaced throughout the weekend, with the key sessions as listed below.
Saturday
Qualifying: 12:30 BST (13:30 CEST)
Race one: 16:00 BST (17:00 BST)
Sunday
Qualifying: 09:00 BST (10:00 CEST)
Race two: 15:45 BST (16:45 CEST)
Race three: 17:10 BST (18:10 CEST)