Photo: TCR Media

Gianni Morbidelli plays down Friday enthusiasm

Gianni Morbidelli was quickest in the Friday test session in Monza, Italy. Although the results suggest Honda will dominate, the Italian is much more cautious.

” I have to say I am absolutely satisfied with what we have achieved today, and I have a good feeling with the car,” admitted the Italian to TouringCarTimes. ” On the other hand, I would like to stay with my feet firmly on the ground, because it’s only Friday and the same happened in Valencia and Portimao, we were quick on Friday and then we faded. I want to be cautious, there are so many things that can change.”

Morbidelli openly admitted that he is already on the limit of the Civic TCR’s performance:” The thing is that we are on the limit already. At the moment this is the best we can achieve, whereas I’ve seen my opponents improve dramatically between Friday and Saturday, almost magically. I always look for maximum performance, and it shows when you look at the lap times over the three days both in Valencia and in Portimao, I am also very quick to understand the limit of the car, so that probably influences my lap times on Fridays.”

While praising his WestCoast Racing team, Morbidelli said he is sure the SEATs will bounce back come qualifying:” We did a good job today, we worked on the handling and the car is well balanced, so that is a very positive aspect. WestCoast have worked very hard, and we found a good setup, so I am happy, but I also want to keep focused, I don’t think we are going to dominate this weekend. I hope we will not see again what happened in the last two events, but I’m quite sure the SEATs will be right up there when lap times will matter.”

The Honda driver will not set any slipstreaming strategies for tomorrow’s qualifying, unlike Craft-Bamboo Lukoil, who have already tried it in testing:” We are not going to plan a slipstreaming strategy for tomorrow. That can be a problem, because if you pick it up in the correct way you are obviously much quicker, but if you catch the car in front at Lesmo or Parabolica then your lap is completely ruined. Also, if you use that strategy, someone in the team will always be penalized, so it’s never ideal. We haven’t tried it and we don’t want to do it, that would be more dangerous rather than profitable.”

Morbidelli currently sits third in the championship, 15 points shy of Comini, after a no points scoring weekend in Portugal.