Timo Scheider says he is ‘pretty happy’ with his début performance in a front-wheel drive touring car, after the two-time DTM champion finished the first race of the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in China in 11th position.
Scheider was called up to drive the third Münnich Motorsport Honda for the final four events of the season, and the German made his race début on Saturday at the Ningbo International Speedpark.
The 39-year-old ended first practice in ninth on Friday, and was then 18th quickest in the second session, after not finding as much of a lap time improvement as his rivals.
Having qualified in just 18th position, in part due to a lack of track time, Scheider made steady progress in the opening race, taking the chequered flag in 11th after allowing team-mate Yann Ehrlacher to bag the final point in the race.
“After starting 18th, I’m pretty happy to end my front-wheel-drive debut in 11th, although a point would have been really sweet,” said Scheider.
“The gap between myself and my team-mates was a bit too big in practice and qualifying, so I’m really pleased to pull some of that back in the race. Yann got a bit bashed up by some other drivers, so I let him pass me to help the team.
“I’m pleased with a couple of the moves I made, and the tyres were still good at the end, so I think the set-up changes we made after qualifying really worked.”
Scheider will get the chance to start over on Sunday, as the WTCR weekend format features another qualifying session to decide the grid for races two and three.