Kevin Gleason says he just wants to ‘improve every session’ on his début in the World Touring Car Championship at Monza, as he gets to grips with his new LADA Vesta WTCC for the first time.
Gleason was a late addition to the grid for the second meeting of the year in Italy, with the United States racer having just days to get to Franc for a shakedown with the car.
The former TCR International Series racer then travelled straight to Monza, where he got his first laps in the dry with the car in first practice on Saturday.
“I flew out of the U.S. on Monday night, got to Paris on Tuesday morning, and got straight into a car and drove to Magny-Cours,” explained Gleason to TouringCars.Net. “I drove the car in the rain around the club course there for a little bit, so everything was very rushed!”
First practice saw the American end the session as the slowest driver, although he was only two tenths behind the next best driver and 2.870 seconds off the pace overall.
Gleason says he is going to keep focussing on his own game, rather than get drawn into practicing slipstreaming and other tactics this weekend.
“I’m working on my own, trying to improve myself and learn the car and what it likes. I need to try and find a balance with it.
“The car is lighter and has more of a race car feel [compared to a TCR car]. It’s very edgy and the turn-in is very precise. It feels faster down the straights, through the corners, out of the corners – everything.
“I don’t have too many targets, I just want to improve every session and be competitive. I just want to improve and see what we can do; I don’t want to be at the tail end all weekend.”
Having spent a season and a half in TCR, Gleason was noticeably cagey when asked by TouringCars.Net how long he will stay in the WTCC for, as the deal is only a one-off at present.
“For sure the goal is to continue, but we’ll have to see how this weekend goes and how quickly we can get organised.
“I’ve watched the WTCC for a long time – it’s a top championship with great drivers and factory teams.
“I wasn’t even really thinking to get into this series and it all came about very quickly. I’m very happy to be here and I’m enjoying touring car racing at an international level – let’s see what happens [in the future].
“We were trying [to go back into TCR International] but unfortunately the right opportunity didn’t come about, but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise as here we are…”