After a long and eventful campaign in the TCR International Series, WestCoast Racing are gearing up for the season finale at the Dubai Autodrome which takes place 17-18 November and are pleased to confirm that Benny Leuchter will join Gianni Morbidelli to complete the driver line-up.

Leuchter is one of the most experienced Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR drivers and this year, as well as his role as an instructor with the marque, he celebrated five class victories in the VLN Endurance Championship at the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife en route to the TCR class title. Last year the German racer competed in TCR Germany where he finished fifth in the championship.

“I’m really happy to join WestCoast Racing for the final round of the TCR International series in Dubai,” said Leuchter. “After winning the TCR class championship in the VLN endurance series and the 24h race at the Nurburgring this year, it will be another highlight for me to come back to sprint racing in a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. I’m really looking forward to work with such a professional team like WestCoast Racing.

“I don’t know the track of Dubai Autodrome so it will be an extra motivation for me to give it a maximal push. I want to thank everyone for their trust in me and looking forward to a great race of the year.”

Following a great showing last time out in Zhejiang with Morbidelli recording a second and third place finish, WestCoast Racing are looking to conclude their current campaign with another strong showing.

Morbidelli is seventh in the standings, just two points behind his nearest rival, and even with success ballast on board, he will give his all to push up the leaderboard as much as possible.

“It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster this season, but we have made great strides in the second half of the year and now head to every round with high expectations,” said team manager James Nixon.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Benny to the team for the season finale and with his Volkswagen GTI TCR car experience, we are sure he will fit right in from the outset and be pushing hard to show the international series what he can do.”

WestCoast Racing travelled to the penultimate round of the TCR International Series, held at the all-new Zhejiang Circuit in China at the weekend (7-8 October) in a confident frame of mind and left with a significant points haul courtesy of a fourth and second place finish from Gianni Morbidelli.

“Gianni drove very well all weekend long and the team is working fantastically well with the car,” said team manager James Nixon. “We have a very strong package now and that’s down to a lot of hard work from all of the team. We can only be happy about our performance in the closing stages of the season.”

The race weekend got off to a solid start with Morbidelli showing good pace in practice and then carrying that into the all-important qualifying runs where he progressed to the second round before setting the fourth fastest time.

Morbidelli made a good start in the first race, moving third at the first turn and then slotting in behind race leader Pepe Oriola and Jean-Karl Vernay. Morbidelli soon found himself embroiled in a battle for position, losing out to Gabriele Tarquini who was on a march to the front of the field in a car that was not eligible for points this weekend.

As Vernay and Oriola made contact ahead, Morbidelli moved into fourth, a position he would retain to the chequered flag, just three-seconds behind the race winner. Rafael Galiana finished 15th in the second Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR.

The second race proved to be especially strong for the WestCoast team with Morbidelli starting in sixth position. Once again, he was quick off the line, moving to fourth in a fraught first lap which saw him execute a great pass for position on Attila Tassi.

Morbidelli marched on, making short work of Davit Kajaia and closing up on second-placed Frederic Vervisch in what would soon become a four-way fight for position. Rob Huff soon bumped Kajaia out of position and closed on Morbidelli and on the fifth lap, made contact, forcing the WestCoast Racing driver off line to gain the place. James Nash meanwhile was off the pace at the front of the field, and this allowed Morbidelli to gain second position in the final laps. Galiana enjoyed a solid run to tenth position.

“I did two good results today and it’s good for us to score some points today,” said Morbidelli. “We’ve improved a great deal since Oschersleben so it’s a positive end to the season.”

The final round of the TCR International Series takes place in Dubai on 17-18 November and with 35 points secured at Zhejiang Circuit, Morbidelli moves to seventh in the drivers’ standings while the team are sixth, closing down the margin to those ahead.

WestCoast Racing are now all set for the penultimate round of the TCR International Championship which takes place this weekend (7-8 October) at Zhejiang Circuit, China.

The Swedish-based team will run Gianni Morbidelli alongside Rafael Galiana this weekend. The latter joins the team for the first time this year having last competed with WestCoast Racing in Thailand in 2016.

“We know Rafael fairly well and we’re looking forward to working with him again this weekend,” stated team manager James Nixon. “We head into the race weekend with high expectations – we always expect to be competitive and this weekend should be no different.

“Gianni’s car has shed 30 kilos in success ballast and that can only be to our advantage. We’ve won races this year and while we have had some tougher races, we’re looking for a strong finish to the season as a base to our 2018 international and national programmes.”

This round of the championship sees TCR International sharing the grid with TCR Asia and TCR China, and for WestCoast Racing, offers the chance to add to the two wins and 130 points already secured this year.

The Zhejiang Circuit is located 200km south of Shanghai and the action gets underway Friday with testing before further free practice sessions on Saturday. Qualifying take place from 15:30 with the races getting underway from 14:30 Sunday.

Click here for the full schedule.

Det blev ingen upprepning av succén från Oschersleben när WestCoast Racing tog sig an TCR International-helgen i Thailand förra helgen. Två tiondeplatser var höjdpunkterna efter en helg fylld av frustration på Chang International Circuit i Thailand.

Starfältet var extra stort, 24 bilar stort med bilar från TCR Thailand som också ställde upp. WestCoast Racings nya förare Kantadhee Kusiri startade sexa med Gianni Morbidelli 10:a i helgens första race.

Morbidelli gjorde en bra start och tog flera placeringar direkt medan Kusiri gjorde en miss och hamnade bakom sin teamkamrat. Han tappade därefter ytterligare två placeringar medan Morbidelli fortsatte klättra uppåt i fältet. Tyvärr gjorde han ett misstag på varv 11, tre varv från mål, och körde av. Han kunde komma tillbaka och ta en slutlig tiondeplats med Kusiri på en 12:e plats.

I race 2 med omvänd startordning startade Kusiri trea med Morbidelli 11:a. Kusiri gjorde återigen en miss i starten och tappade tre placeringar samtidigt som Morbidelli hade ett dåligt första varv och var nere på 16:e plats. På en sjätteplats vände racet till det sämre för Kusiri några varv senare när han blev påkörd vilket gjorde att han tappade ner till en 11:e plats. Kusiri kunde till slut rädda en tiondeplats med Morbidelli på en 13:e plats.

Nästa race i TCR International är i Kina 6-8 oktober.