Race Track / 19 May 2013

GRID CHALLENGE AHEAD FOR HONDA CIVIC SQUAD

GRID CHALLENGE AHEAD FOR HONDA CIVIC SQUAD

Following the protracted Steward’s Inquiry late last night penalties were imposed on 12 drivers deemed to have contravened the FIA regulations and Sporting Code.

Grid penalties and cash fines have been imposed and the starting grid for race 1 turned on its head.   For the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team there was further disquiet when a minor technical infringement was discovered at post-qualifying technical inspection. The rear aerodynamic wing was found to be just outside the dimensions allowed due to a manufacturing fault by an outside supplier and the three Civics have been forced to start from the rear of the grid for race 1.   In this morning’s warm-up the team continued to tune the cars for best race performance.

Tiago was particularly pleased with the final adjustments: “My car is now much more stable on the high speed corners and I did drive it aggressively this morning to get the full feeling and we are much better under braking than the main competition. I can gain a lot of time here and feel the Civic will be good as the race gets longer.”  

“We are not used to starting from the back of the grid but we have a good opportunity for points in race 2,” points out William De Braekeleer, Motorsport Manager for Honda Motor Europe. “We must keep out of trouble in race 1 and then with Michelisz on the front row of race 2 and Tiago in fourth place and Gabriele in fifth we must try and get a result to keep our WTCC record running high.”     

More: www.fiawtcc.com