Gianni Morbidelli happy with maiden TCR podium

Gianni Morbidelli just made it to the podium in Sepang, Malaysia, after a thrilling race. The WestCoast driver took his Honda Civic TCR to its maiden top three result in the TCR International Series.

The Italian praised his team’s efforts to give him the best possible car: “I am really happy with this podium finish, it’s a well-deserved reward to the great and hard job made by the team,” said the former Formula One driver. “I feel proud to work for such a squad that put a tremendous amount of effort in the latest weeks.”

Morbidelli was involved in a tough fight with Target Competition’s Andrea Belicchi, with the SEAT driver eventually ending up in the grass on the outside of the final corner: “The race today was fun, I had a nice battle in the final lap with Belicchi. He managed to pass me, but then in the very last corner he opened slightly the line and I dived into the gap.”

Morbidelli thinks the first TCR event was positive: “This first weekend also proved how good the TCR concept is, this is the best response to those who did not believe in it.”

The Italian driver jumped up to fourth in the championship on 27 points, 13 less than championship leader Stefano Comini, just 4 points behind Race 2 winner Jordi Gené.