Photo: WTCC Media

Marco Calovolo assesses Lada’s chances in the 2014 WTCC

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LADA Sport Lukoil race engineer Marco Calovolo believes that Lada have gained a lot from their returning full season in the FIA World Touring Car Championship in 2013, and hopes that data gathered in the last part of the year will help James Thompson and Rob Huff challenge for victories in 2014.

Calovolo has worked regularly with James Thompson since the two-time British Touring Car champion joined the WTCC with Alfa Romeo in 2005, and after spells at independent front-runners Proteam Racing and Wiechers-Sport after Alfa Romeo left the WTCC, reflects on Lada’s 2013 season:

“(It was) very positive indeed if we consider the limited dimension of the LADA Granta road car,” said Calovolo. “I am not too far from reality when I say that our car was one of the smallest in the field. Nevertheless, we worked very hard all season to compensate this handicap, and in the final few races we were able to extract very good performance from the car, which in turn allowed James Thompson to fight for podium positions,” he added.

“From the first race to the last, we had an endless flow of new parts, the majority of them designed and manufactured by LADA Sport to improve our performances.

“Last but not least, the ORECA team supplied us with not only the engine and its electronic management, but a strong technical/logistic support too.

“The 2013 WTCC season has been one of my best seasons ever for the technical progression from the beginning to the end.”

Lada ran the Granta WTCC for two races in 2012 at Hungary and Portimao, before embarking on its full season programme in 2013 with James Thompson and Mikhail Kozlovskiy, but already Lada has to develop a new car for this season due to the change in regulations, with brand new Super 2000 regulations being implemented which has seen Citroën join the Championship, and rivals Honda and RML also developing new cars to replace their Civic and Chevrolet Cruze models.

“The new FIA 2014 WTCC technical regulations are completely different compared with 2013,” said Calovolo. “We’re simply talking about a whole new generation of race car. I deem the new rules to be extremely positive for Lada, because we can re-design the car; changing necessary components that will help us reduce the gap to the leading competitors.

“In 2013 we tested a lot of different setups looking towards the forthcoming season, so when it came to designing the new car, our designers already had vital information…very few parts shall be saved from the old to the new car.”

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LADA Sport Lukoil’s programme expands in 2014 as well, with Thompson and Kozlovskiy joined by 2012 champion Rob Huff as the team strives to take the challenge to manufacturer rivals Citroën and Honda this year. A change which Calovolo believes will see the team able to make a significant step forward.

“I believe that both of them are among the best five drivers in the current WTCC field, therefore the LADA Sport Lukoil team has one of, if not the strongest driver line ups for the 2014 season. Also, let’s not forget Mikhail Kozlovskiy too, who now has a year’s WTCC experience under his belt.

“The 2014 car should be easier to drive compared with the sometimes grumpy LADA Granta WTCC from 2013. We have to maximise our test sessions by sharing the development programme between both Rob and James.

“During a race weekend, a driver is mainly focused on his performance, but I do not expect any unsafe rivalry between our drivers. To be part of the LADA Sport Lukoil team is huge motivation for them, but carries with it a great deal of responsibility too…I think we need to start winning a few races before we set our sights on the title.”