Tarquini: Motegi more exciting than Suzuka for WTCC

The Motegi circuit, where the WTCC will visit from September 11-13, is expected to offer races more exciting than the Suzuka track which until now hosted the Japanese rounds of the discipline. This is in any case the opinion of Gabriele Tarquini, official Honda driver, while the Japanese manufacturer owns both tracks. The 2009 world champion was able to test a Honda Super GT with his teammate Tiago Monteiro “over 7 or 8 turns” according to his memories.

“This circuit suits the characteristics of the WTCC very well and I think that races can be much more exciting than at Suzuka », declared the former pilot of F1. “Suzuka is one of the most beautiful circuits in the world to drive on, but overtaking is very difficult with these cars. It's all the more a shame as our races usually offer some great fights. So I hope that Motegi will offer a different show to that seen in recent years at Suzuka. »

With only two podiums achieved this season at Moscow Raceway (in Russia, in June) and at Vila Real (in Portugal, in July) and only 6th place in the Championship ahead of his Portuguese teammate, Gabriele Tarquini will be keen to achieve a good result on Honda land. “Speed ​​will not be very important at Motegi. For the moment, our car is far from the maximum speeds of the Citroën (C-Elysée) and the Chevrolet (Cruze). Our acceleration is also not very good. Our car performs better on winding tracks. Motegi is not very fast, but not very twisty either with quite a few turns at medium speed, but the track should generally suit our cars”, added the Italian.