Arkiv: TCR International

Sensational double TCR victory for WestCoast and Morbidelli in Germany

NewsTCR International

Gianni Morbidelli took an incredible double victory in the TCR International Series at the Oschersleben track in Germany Sunday (9 July, 2017) to claim the WestCoast Racing’s first wins of the 2017 season and to haul the Italian into an unlikely late push for the Championship.

“What a drive,” said team manager James Nixon. “The team has never given up and all the hard work has started to pay off, together with Volkswagen motorsport we are starting to succeed. I don’t think Gianni has enjoyed driving so much for a long time and it’s a fantastic team and driver effort. I’m very disappointed for Giacomo as it could have been a different story without the big crash in the start of race two.”

The first race lights to flag victory from a well-deserved pole position was a long overdue result for Morbidelli and the team who have been battling all season to get to grips with the TCR Volkswagen Golf and signals the start of what is hoped to be a strong conclusion to the season for the Swedish team and their partners.

The teams second driver Giacomo Altoe also benefitted from the cars increased performance with his season best fifth place in the opening race.

Race two was simply a sensational performance from the team, starting tenth the Italian made the most of a start line pile up to find a large gap between him and the leaders on the reformed grid after a red flag that unfortunately claimed teammate Altoe an innocent bystander in a multi car incident.

Morbidelli took his chances so well, first passing, Lloyd, then onto Championship contender Vernay before an amazing last lap pass on the Opel of Homola to claim the second win in a perfect 55-point haul from the stunning weekend.

“I am really happy with this perfect result for me and the team and it has come at the right time,” said Morbidelli. “We have suffered a lot this season so it feels great to get this win. It’s a good feeling, its perfect. I have to say I am really proud of the team and myself, this result was incredible for us.”

For the team, the result was a fantastic reward after a season-long battle to extract the performance from the package.

“What great reward for the hard work and effort that we have put in,” said Team Principal Dick Jönsson Wigroth. “At no point this year have the guys stopped pushing forward and despite many struggles this really is a great reward for everyone involved.

“The testing we did has given us an insight into the car and it was nice to see the results of this and it was particularly satisfying to be the quickest Volkswagen team as well as quickest overall. This feels like the start of our season now and let’s hope we can continue in this vein.”

WestCoast Racing will be back out in the next round of the championship seeking to build on the success of this weekend at Chang International Circuit in Thailand 2-3 September.

WestCoast Racing närmre täten i Ungern

NyheterTCR International

WestCoast Racing var i mer bekant sällskap på Hungaroring i Ungern i helgen och var med och slogs uppe i täten när TCR International besökte F1-banan i Ungern.

Unge italienaren Giacomo Altoe stod för teamets bästa resultat för året med en fjärdeplats i det andra racet. Han hade en överlag bra helg med en åttondeplats i det första racet precis framför teamkamraten Gianni Morbidelli. Efter en besvärlig start på året har teamet nu hittat fart i bilarna, och båda förarna kunde kvala in i topp-10.

I race 2 startade Altoe och Morbidelli i första respektive andra startled och trots ett misstag i starten kunde Altoe komma tillbaka och köra till sig en fjärdeplats och sitt bästa resultat i TCR så här långt.

Morbidelli hade ett tuffare andra race där han hamnade mitt i fältet i starten och drogs in i en stor kollision som avslutade hans race.

Teamchef James Nixon tycker teamet visade i helgen att man tagit ett steg framåt även om han medger att det finns mycket mer att hämta efter en dålig start på säsongen.

– Vi är fortfarande långt ifrån vår referens i Volkswagen som vi anser är Jean Karl Vernay som återigen gjorde en stark insats och som jag anser vara den bästa föraren i mästerskapet just nu, sa James. Vi har likadana bilar som han så vi tillsammans med förarna måste fortsätta arbeta hårt för att förbättra oss och närma oss toppen.

James var också mycket nöjd med Altoes insats över helgen.
– Han körde väldigt bra idag och han har snart möjlighet att slåss om racesegrar. Han lärde sig mycket den här helgen från att fightas i toppen och trots en lite tveksam start längst fram i det första racet gjorde han en mycket bra insats för oss idag, avslutade James.

Nästa race i TCR Internaional är på Oschersleben i Tyskland 9 juli.

WestCoast Racing back towards the front in Hungary

EngelskaNewsTCR International

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.

Säsongens bästa resultat i helgen på Salzburgring

NyheterTCR International

En femteplats för Gianni Morbidelli på Salzburgring med en åttondeplats för Giacomo Altoe summerar WestCoast Racings bästa helg för säsongen så här långt i TCR International Series.

WestCoast Racings James Nixon är nöjd med framstegen som är ett resultat av viktiga tester i Italien inför helgens race på Salzburgring.
– Vi är mycket gladare nu, säger James. Vi måste tacka Altoes familj och Adria International Raceway som gjorde det möjligt för oss att göra vårt första ordentliga test i år inför det här racet. Vi fick äntligen tid att lära oss mer om bilarna och det känns som vi tog ett stort steg fram till att kunna slåss i toppen.

James anser dock att det finns arbete att göra för organisationen vad gäller utjämningsystemet, Balance of Performance.
– Det finns kanske lite mer jobb att göra där, konstaterar han. En bil som trots 30 kg straffvikt kan vinna här utan någon slipstream till hjälp borde få några varningsklockor att ringa hos de som sätter BoP. Vi är lite frustrerade över det. Vi har fantastiska bilar, ett fantastiskt team och två väldigt imponerande förare. Altoe gör stora framsteg under sitt första år i mästerskapet och visar vad han kan jämfört med de andra som har så mycket mer erfarenhet.

Morbidelli startade helgens andra race som tvåa och försvarade sin plats inledningsvis men föll så småningom till en femteplats.

Altoe gjorde en imponerade uppkörning från 16:e plats till en åttondeplats i mål. Åttondeplatsen knep han två varv från mål efter omstart efter en period med säkerhetsbil där Altoe kunde passera in i första chikanen.

Under helgen visade WestCoast Racing att testerna i Italien gett resultat med sitt bästa kval för säsongen. Nu väntar endast ett kort uppehåll innan TCR International är tillbaka igen redan nästa helg för tävlingarna i Ungern.

WestCoast secures best result of TCR International season

EngelskaNewsTCR International

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.

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