Kevin Gleason admits that his début in the World Touring Car Championship was a ‘whirlwind weekend’ after the American went from qualifying on the back row of the grid to scoring points in the Opening Race.
Gleason was a last-minute addition to the grid in the second RC Motorsport LADA, and the United States driver had little time to acclimatise to his car as a result, completing only a shakedown in the wet at Magny-Cours the week before the event.
Saturday’s practice sessions were therefore Gleason’s first real opportunity to sample the car, and he built confidence with each session before qualifying 15th out of 16 cars.
The high attrition rate in the Opening Race, combined with Gleason driving an incident-free race, saw him finish in ninth to claim points in his first-ever WTCC race.
Gleason kept his nose clean in the Main Race as well, although he could only finish in 13th and last, albeit less than 20 seconds off the eventual race winner.
“Its been a bit of a whirlwind this week,” said Gleason. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the series have made me feel extremely welcome.
“I am pleased to have got these two races under my belt and have learned about the car, the team and especially the technique of driving these cars as the meeting progressed.”
Gleason confirmed that he expects to continue in the team at the next round of the championship in Hungary later in the month.
“I would like to think that I can get further up the field in my next outing which will hopefully be the next round of the Championship in Budapest, Hungary in a couple of weeks’ time.”