Münnich Motorsport in anger: A weekend with the team
Every racing fan loves watching cars battling it out on track and thrilling the crowds in a race, before that moment, however, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes, sometimes things we didn’t even suspect were happening. TouringCarTimes.com writer Pietro Casillo spent a weekend with ALL-INKL.com Münnich Motorsport team at the most recent round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Spa-Francorchamps to try and understand what goes on behind the scenes during a race weekend.
Münnich Motorsport is an independent team. René Münnich is both the owner and the driver of one of the Chevrolet RML Cruzes engineered by the team. The #10 Chevrolet is driven by former Formula One driver and reigning Superstars Series champion Gianni Morbidelli.
Entering the garage of Münnich Motorsport, the first feeling you get is one of serenity. The crew are always working hard but are also smiling and willing to talk to each other, rather than being in a cold environment. Sometimes professionalism gets in the way of the social relationships in the team, but it is not the case at the Münnich team. Of course, smiling and having an occasional laugh does not make this team any less professional. You can tell that they know what they are doing, everyone is completely focused and they take care of each detail.
The back of the garage is very tidy, except for a table which is for the engineers and the team manager, where sheets of data can be found scattered everywhere. It is a creative chaos though. You can see the precise schedule of the weekend – going from when to start the engine up to turn it down, to the press conferences that the drivers may have to attend. You can also see the secrets of telemetry, which is where engineers and drivers look for issues and improvements.
Sitting at the table, discussing and analysing after each session will be the drivers – each with his own engineer – and team manager Dominik Greiner carefully listening. Briefing and de-briefing are the key moments of the weekend off of the track. Everything is decided at that table, and that influences the outcome of each session.
Between Free Practice and Qualifying there is a complete check of each car. Each time a car stops in the pit lane oil is checked, as well as tyre pressures and temperatures, which are vital data to help the engineers understand the behaviour of the car. Morbidelli has a person who looks after him when he comes into the pit lane and brings him a refreshing drink. You will always see Gianni in full focus when he is in the car, even if he is just sitting in it as the mechanics work on it.
Preparations for qualifying start thirty minutes before the session starts. The engine is brought up to temperature at about 80°, and blankets are applied on the tyres to warm them up. They will be removed exactly 30 seconds before the car is down on its tyres in the pit lane.
Unlike many teams, Münnich Motorsport do not always perform installation laps during the practice sessions. The general rule is that they will only do it if it’s necessary, meaning if they changed several parts of the car or it has had an accident in the prior session. That is to try and maximise track time – remembering of course that just the in and out laps will take about five minutes at the 7km Spa circuit. The team felt it was more important to let the drivers explore the track, and that proved to be the right thing to do because both cars worked smoothly during the weekend.
In Qualifying, René Münnich was unable to escape the first segment of qualifying, while Gianni Morbidelli made it into Q2 and was able to set the tenth fastest lap time, which was a bonus as that would give him pole position for the second race. Despite this being good news, everyone in the garage knew that repeating what Morbidelli had done at the Hungaroring a month earlier, when the Italian went on to take victory from the front row of the grid, would be very difficult here due to the nature of the track. “It surely helps to start at the front”, said Morbidelli after qualifying, “but I wasn’t tenth due to a mistake, I’m in P10 because at the moment I belong there. It will not be easy to defend that position.”
At that point the team had two ways to go, knowing that the car had a huge understeer issue which has been plaguing both cars throughout the weekend. They could use the first race as a warm-Up and try something completely different in terms of set-up, or go the conservative way and just stick with what they had and try to make the best out of it.
Unlike in many other teams, the decision was taken after a very serene discussion between the driver and the engineer. As Morbidelli later explained to me, taking decisions together means that everyone is motivated, because they feel part of the decision process – and therefore part of the team.
I heard that sentence so many times that I had to ask Morbidelli why everyone in the team was describing him as a motivator. “It’s nice to hear”, he smiled. “To be honest, what is perceived as a motivating behaviour is just down to my personality. I’m not the kind of driver who arrives at the track at the last minute, jumps in the car, drives it and then tries to leave the circuit as soon as possible.
“I love what I do, I like the team, and for me it’s only natural to stay with them, going out for dinner or helping solve an issue. The best feeling you can have is going into a garage and feeling like in a family. It seems to happen all the time for me, and my friends at ROAL (with which he drove in the Superstars Series) are always happy to see me and vice versa, but it tends to always happen. That’s how I like to work.”
René is a different kind of character. The team owner is an easy going person and, as I was told by Morbidelli’s race engineer Charles Hodge, he is always willing to work and improve. I was also told that he feels no pressure to get results. He knows he is fighting against the best names in the sport and allows himself some time to improve. On the other hand, there are times in which he matches Morbidelli, or he is even quicker, confirming that we are yet to see the best out of Münnich.
Hodge said: “René enjoys driving the car so much. Results are important for him obviously, but perhaps the biggest motivation is the fascination he feels towards the car and the driving is influenced from that. He likes to work with his engineer, enjoys looking at data and video footage to improve, and he has some very good technical understanding, also due to his Rallycross experience. A typical example would be that he is very clear on feedback concerning the start – which is a very important phase of the race, of course -, because of his expertise at starts, also with GT cars.”
Münnich even brought his GT3 specification Mercedes SLS to Spa to take part in the free practice session of the FFSA GT Tour, the French national GT championship, to get some more track time in before the WTCC sessions.
Back to the moments after qualifying, I heard the discussions about the changes that could be done in terms of set-up. The problem race engineer Hodge raised was that, due to the limitations imposed by the repair time of fifteen minutes between the races, there is not enough time to turn the set-up of the car upside down. Gianni and Charles discussed the matter and decided on some minor changes.
Just before the first race, with the driver already in his overalls, I asked Morbidelli about his feelings: “At the moment I’m worried”, he admitted, “Because I don’t feel OK with the car. As usual, though, I need to keep the level of concentration very high, this is what I’m supposed to do and I will try to do that despite the feeling that things are not exactly the way I would want them to be.”
The unexpected was about to happen, though, as Morbidelli launched perfectly off the grid and was able to make up for five places, and was up to fifth by Les Combes at the end of the straight. The team cheered and applauded loudly as Gianni immediately started looking after his tyres and, more importantly, into the mirrors to look for the Honda of Tiago Monteiro who was attacking him.
A drive through penalty awarded to the rival Chevrolet driver Hugo Valente due to an incident at the start of the race with the other factory Honda of Gabriele Tarquini meant the #10 car was up to fourth, which is where he stayed despite some hard but fair attacks from Monteiro throughout the race.
Everyone was happy; the car was back to the garage without a scratch and in fourth, something definitely unexpected before the race. “Experienced driver!” was Hodge’s enthusiastic and yet short comment as I approached him to congratulate. Morbidelli was surprised and happy as he knew how tough it had been to keep Monteiro behind him, making the result even sweeter.
Immediately after Race 1, signs are applied to the cars. They cannot be touched until the FIA allows the teams to do so. Sometimes visitors to the garage may not know, which is why a big red sign is displayed, saying “Parc Fermé, Do Not Touch”. Adhesive seals are applied by the FIA to certify the doors and bonnet have not being opened.
In general, three mechanics are assigned to each car in the team. As Charles Hodges explained to me, Münnich Motorsport are a small team, but it helps because everyone in the team has a lot of technical knowledge. This gives the team a lot of flexibility in case of emergencies.
Apart from the big differences we can all see comparing the 2014 ‘TC1’ cars with the previous general, now know as TC2 vehicles, there’s an issue that has not been explored too much, which is the strength of the car. Let’s be clear, being less strong doesn’t mean being less safe – as we have seen in huge crashes with Tarquini and Coronel already -, but the fact that the cars are lighter also make them more prone to damage than the old ones. This is why All-Inkl.com believe that their flexibility is a strength compared to other teams.
All Chevrolet teams are in a different situation compared to the others. The UK-based touring car powerhouse RML built the cars, and the customers trust them due to their huge success in the discipline, which has already been proven this season. According to the team, the car is good, although it still needs development to catch up with the Citroëns. RML always send team of technicians for their customers, who are also able to call for support from British mechanics to ‘teach’ them the different parts of the car and speed up the learning process at the track.
In general, the car needs to be developed, but they’ve started from a good base, also in terms of engine. The fact that none of the Chevrolet teams have been able to carry out any extensive testing due to the short turnaround time between the delivery of the cars and the start of the season, makes the situation more difficult, but the team’s happiness with the material is very clear.
On to Race 2, it was much of a different job for Münnich Motorsport. Gianni Morbidelli was starting from pole position, but he also knew it would be difficult to retain the position, if not impossible. Claiming fourth in the opening race, though, had given the team the belief that another good result was possible. Gianni was not overconfident however, and told me how he knew he was going to get caught unless something unusual happened.
At the start it was time for ROAL’s Tom Coronel to shine, as he took the lead fighting side-by-side with Morbidelli up through Eau Rouge. Morbidelli slid down the order as the factory Citroëns charged through the field, and as a result he took sixth, which is still a nice result and good points to put in the bag before going home.
The whole crew cheered at Morbidelli as the Italian driver crossed the line. Some of the members of the team were already thinking about the next round of the Championship in Argentina though. It is a special meeting, because the European season ends at Spa and there is a precise schedule as to when the materials are going to be shipped to South America. For the team, it means spending more time away from home as they pack everything very accurately.
The end of the European season also substantially marks the end of any development testing the team may have wished to do, just because the cars are no longer at the workshop but they are travelling the globe for the remainder of the year.
I asked engineer Charles Hodge how the fact that both drivers come from different championships affects the learning process:
“It’s always helpful to have drivers who have had experiences before in any car, so you can have a benchmark and see where the driver is as opposed to where he may belong in terms of performance. In general, from the engineering point of view, it’s very important for us to have a clear and consistent feedback.
“We have two quite different drivers in terms of experience, which is always good. Gianni comes from a different championship, the Superstars Series, but he also had experiences in touring cars – both front and rear-wheel driven – and of course Formula One, so we can rely on him. As I said, René has a lot of technical understanding. They both provide good feedback for us to work on.”
Münnich have a star driver in Gianni Morbidelli. A multiple touring car champion, the Italian also stepped on the podium in Formula One and drove for Ferrari. Although he is 46, one would never guess it, he looks much younger than that. He is in perfect shape and fitness has become a kind of hobby for him, after he started doing it for Formula One: ”As a driver I don’t have a particular routine to prepare for a weekend”, said Morbidelli. “As a professional racing driver I am very meticulous about my fitness. I’m careful as to what to eat and drink, I have a healthy life and I do a lot of workout in the gym. I’ve always done it, a driver is an athlete and you can understand it when you race in Formula One, because it is actually necessary to be fit if you want to drive those cars. Once I started it, it became so normal for me that I keep on doing it in spite of the years passing by, because I want to keep fit and young!”
As is the case with many great drivers, Morbidelli also works on his mind: ”When we go to tracks I know I try to do some visualisation work as I work in the gym. I feel it helps more than the simulators, which I have tried. In Formula One they have very sophisticated simulators, but for these cars I think it doesn’t give a realistic feeling, so I would only use that if I’ve never been to a track, but just to see where the corners go rather than properly having an idea as to how will I drive my Chevrolet Cruze RML on track.”
People may tend to forget that by this time last year Morbidelli was driving an Audi RS 5, a four-wheel drive car which weighed 1500kg and had much more power compared to the Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1. I couldn’t help asking Gianni how was he able to adapt so quickly to the new configuration, the front-wheel driven Chevrolet Cruze. ”Experience always helps of course, because when you have driven so many cars it gets easier. To be honest it’s not as easy as it looks, sometimes you get an immediate feeling with the car, but at times it just doesn’t happen and then you have to work really hard to get the best out of yourself and the car.
“What I can say is that I was criticised at the beginning of the year, as some people thought I wouldn’t perform well on a front-wheel driven car, but I think the results show that I’m capable of doing it. I have to admit I love powerful machines though, just like the F1 cars I drove back in the ’90s. I always keep in mind that I’m fighting against the likes of Yvan Muller or Gabriele Tarquini, and that’s another factor that keeps the motivation up, because of course I want to win and, when it happens, I know I did it against the best in the sport, so it’s twice as much satisfying.”
All in all, Münnich Motorsport are a very professional team, but they work as a family, kept together by the two drivers and team manager Dominik Greiner, who is always willing to work and help and will always have a laugh with the crew. The genuinely impressive thing is that the atmosphere is very relaxed, and yet you can tell how professional they are. To that respect, their drivers are the mirror of this incredible mix which makes them strong competitors in the FIA World Touring Car Championship and a great team.
