WestCoast Racing were in more familiar territory as their 2017 TCR International campaign starts to show signs of a welcomed improvement, getting back towards the front of the pack at the Hungaroring track situated on the outskirts of Budapest today (18th June, 2017)

Giacomo Altoe delivered the team’s best finish of the season in the days second race with a well deserved fourth position to follow up on double points finishes in the days first race with the young Italian leading home teammate Gianni Morbidelli in eighth spot having passed his countryman on the final lap of the race.

The improved results show the team is getting to grips with the VW Golf TCR and was able to qualify inside the top ten with both cars giving the drivers the opportunity to fight with the leading cars in the races.

In race one Altoe drove superbly to his eighth-place finish whilst Morbidelli was unlucky to lose out with a hole in his boost system, caused whilst fighting for position with James Nash.

Race two saw both drivers make small start line mistakes from their front and second row starting positions respectively with Altoe driving extremely well to recover for his best TCR finish to date. Morbidelli was however less fortunate with a mistake dropping him into the pack where he found himself squeezed and the innocent bystander in a big race-ending collision.

Team Manager James Nixon put some perspective on the team’s performance in Hungary this weekend in comparison to what has been a disappointing start to the 2017 campaign.

“We are still far from our reference point in the Volkswagen, which we consider to be Jean Karl Vernay, who, having watched him again this week sets a strong reference point as I consider him to probably be the best driver in the series.  Our cars are the same (as Vernay’s) so together our drivers and the team need to work harder to improve and bring ourselves nearer still to finish the season on a strong and positive note.”

On Altoe’s performance Nixon added: “He drove very well today and his chance to fight for victories will soon come. He learned a lot about becoming a great race driver from being in the mix at the front in race two and despite being apprehensive ahead of the front row start performed admirably.”

The series continues on now to Oschersleben Germany on the 9th July for rounds 11 and 12 of the 18 round Championship.

WestCoast Racing secured its best result of the 2017 TCR International Series with Gianni Morbidelli finishing in a fine fifth position this afternoon (11 June, 2017) in his #10 Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Adding to the strong result was teammate Giacomo Altoe, who brought his Golf home in eighth position.

“We are much happier,” began Team Manager James Nixon.  “We have to thank Altoe family and Adria International Raceway for helping us to get our first test in before this race. We finally had time to learn the car and feel we have taken a huge step forward now able to compete at the front.

“Maybe there is some work to do adjusting the Balance of Performance (BoP),” Nixon continued. “A car with 30kg of ballast winning in Salzburg with no tow should maybe ring alarm bells to the guys determining the BoP.  We’re still frustrated by this as this year it’s so hard with the BoP.

“We have great cars, a great team and two very impressive drivers. Altoe is making big gains already in what is his first year in the series and he’s really showing his talent against those who all have so much more experience.”

Morbidelli defended his second position on the grid off the line, which was the start of a valiant effort to keep his rivals behind him. With continued pressure from behind, the Italian veteran dropped to fifth, but still scored the team’s best race finish of the season.

This came off the back of scoring the team’s best qualifying result of the year, starting race one from ninth on the grid. However, a poor getaway at the start of the race saw him drop to 12th at the end of the first lap and after an intense fight with the other cars around him, he crossed the line in 13th.

Altoe also scored a strong points-finish in the second race. Having started 16th on the grid, the rookie racer worked his way up to ninth before a safety car period with only four laps to go.  The safety car came out on lap 14 and the race extension of two laps gave Altoe the opportunity to make up further places. He took eighth on the restart into the first chicane, and held position to the chequered flag.

There’s only a short pause for the WestCoast team as they’re back out next weekend at the Hungaroring for round six of the TCR International Series.

WestCoast Racing hardly had time to pause following the Belgian round of the TCR International Series as they travelled to Monza, Italy for round four of the championship this weekend (12 – 14 May, 2017).

The results so far this year have not been what the team – nor Gianni Morbidelli and Giacomo Altoe would have hoped for – and again at Monza, the team had the speed in the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, but were unable to make the most of it when it counted. This, combined with numerous on-track incidents, made for a disappointing Italian weekend.

“It’s fair to say that we’re having a tough start to the season,” said Team Manager James Nixon. “It appears the International series has some of the worst driving standards currently in any series I watch.

“Sadly, most of these incidents seem to go un noticed by the people that count! We were passed yet again more times off the track than on, but no positions given back. Maybe it’s better to have no rules but it’s not the kind of motorsport we want for the team. As a team we need to look at our options tomorrow and decide if we continue to support this philosophy of racing.”

Despite their best efforts, neither driver was able to make it into the top 12 in qualifying, just missing out with the 13th and 14th best times.

The first race saw Morbidelli boxed in at the start by a rival spinning at turn one, dropping him down the order. Altoe meanwhile was about to exit the race at turn three following contact at the first corner that broke the front right suspension.

Morbidelli battled on, chasing and then passing Mat’o Homola and working his way into tenth position. Contact with Dusan Borkovic, who turned Morbidelli sideways mid-race at the first chicane, lost the Italian two further positions and forced him to defend from those behind and finishing in 11th position.

Lining up 13th and 14th again for race two saw Morbidelli and Altoe both make gains off the start, the latter taking advantage of first corner incidents to vault ninth, with Morbidelli slotting in two positions behind.

The race settled down a little with both driver holding position before Altoe lost ground to run 12th, a position he would maintain to the chequered flag. Morbidelli meanwhile went off at turn one on lap eight as he battled for position, losing time and positions as he dropped to the tail of the field before retiring a few laps later.

The team have a pause ahead of the next round of the TCR International Series race which takes place at Salzburgring in Austria on 11 June.

After a combative pair of races in the TCR International Series at Spa Francorchamps this weekend (5-6 May, 2017), WestCoast Racing were left with a solitary tenth position and single championship point for Giacomo Altoe, despite the best efforts of the team and its drivers.

“Sometimes it goes like this in racing,” said Team Principal Dick Jönsson Wigroth. “If you can’t win on track at least we can have a good time with our partners from Ejendals who came along to support us and promote their new TEGERA Infinity brand. We move on and go again as always!”
 
The biggest field of 24 cars in the International series to date lined up at the Belgian F1 track, including a number of series debutants from the TCR Benelux championship, making the event and the racing exciting for the large crowd that had gathered to watch the series support the World Endurance Championship. Among them were guests from TEGERA Infinity, who had come along to support their brand that proudly adorned the team pair of Golf GTI TCR cars.

The Benelux championship and a number of the competitors had raced at the Belgian venue just the week before and this, combined with local knowledge, put the Swedish outfit, who had won last years corresponding event, on the backfoot from the start of the weekend.
 
One positive from the weekend was the race performance of Altoe, who racing hard to recover from a few racing setbacks to grab the final point in race two from a mid-race low point of 16th position.  The young Italian driver showed great battling spirit and a good degree of race-craft which bodes well for the rest of the International season.
 
“It was very tough,” said Altoe. “It was a crazy second race, I got boxed at the start- lost some places – got them back – and then made a small mistake and ended up back in 16th, so I suppose I am happy with tenth place. It’s my home race next week in Monza so I hope I can do better!”
 
There’s only a short pause before the TCR International Series is back on track at Monza, Italy next weekend for rounds seven and eight of the championship.

With points in each of opening four races of the TCR International Series in Georgia and Bahrain, WestCoast Racing head to Spa Francorchamps, supporting the World Endurance Championship, for the third round of the championship.

The Belgian event will see team host numerous guests from the European distributor network of main sponsor Ejendals.  WestCoast Racing’s guest will get to see the TEGERA Infinity branded Volkswagen Golf TCR cars in action on what the team hopes will be a strong weekend as they get to grips with the all-new for 2017 equipment.

Gianni Morbidelli and Giacomo Altoe are 12th and 13th in the drivers’ classification respectively, while the WestCoast Racing are eighth in the team’s standings with clear ambitions to move up the order.

“It’s fair to say that the opening two rounds of the championship were harder than we expected,” said Team Manager James Nixon. “We know we’re in a learning curve with the new car, but we really did hope that we would be closer to the sharp end.

“Even though we won here last year, Spa will be a new challenge in many respects. We believe we’ll make progress throughout practice and be in reasonable shape for qualifying. These races are very tough, but we have great confidence in the drivers and we’ll give them the very best machinery that we can.”

The TCR International weekend gets underway with two free practice sessions on Thursday, with qualifying and race one getting underway at 17.25 Friday. Race two is on Saturday at 11.35.