WTCC – Honda’s awakening

 Since the start of the year, Citroën has dominated its subject in the WTCC, with only one round left on the way to the competition in Hungary and the victory of Gianni Morbidelli and his Chevrolet Cruze of Münnich Motorsport. If José-Maria Lopez once again confirmed the domination of the C-Elysée by winning pole on the Moscow track today, it is clear that the official Honda Civics of Gabriele Tarquini 2nd, and Tiago Monteiro 3rd have never been so close to the tricolor scarecrow despite a ballast of 20 kg (compared to 60 all the same for the team in the rafters). Enough to delight both residents of the Japanese team.

“I'm very happy this morning, the car was very good from the start. I'm really happy with the settings and especially the chassis. I was surprised by my times with new tires in Q1. I tried to adapt my driving style to improve a little more, but I was unsuccessful and even made a few mistakes, admits Tarquini. I then changed something for Q3 but in the end it didn't work as expected. That said, we have never been so close to Citroën. Pole could have been possible after my fastest lap in Q1, but I will still start second on the grid. »

For Monteiro, things were not so clear, but the Portuguese nevertheless considered himself satisfied. “I hung on all day, so I was already happy to arrive in Q3 on the last lap of Q2. I hadn't been very confident until now, but in the end everything went well. The harder we can make the race for these guys (Citroën), the better it will be for our confidence and the better it will be for the championship and the spectators in particular. We have nothing to lose and we can risk everything in the race since we are not fighting for the championship. »

The first round on the Moscow track will take place at 11:15 a.m. French time.