Photo: TCR Media

Jordi Gené sure Honda will dominate in Monza

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Jordi Gené managed a top five spot in today’s test session in Monza, Italy. The Spaniard, who performed very well in Portugal last time out and is on maximum ballast, is eager to fight, but is convinced the Honda Civic TCR will dominate the weekend.

” It is a special circuit because it’s not only about the setup and the driving, it’s also about the slipstream,” said the Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver to TouringCarTimes. “I have been a race winner here in Monza in the past and I like the track, I’ll see if I can play my cards correctly and use the game in my favour tomorrow. It will not be easy, also due to the 30 kilos of ballast I am carrying.”

Gené described how hard it is to use the slipstream correctly, although Craft-Bamboo Lukoil will try to use the tactics in order to gain performance:” It’s very difficult to slipstream, it’s not as easy as it looks. In the SEAT Sport days we used to do it with five cars, but we could do that because we were used to it and we knew each other very well.

Here we must do it, because in Monza you have to do it, but we’ve never done it before, so it’s going to be even trickier, but my team-mates Pepe (Oriola) and Sergey (Afanasyev) are very good professionals, so I am confident we will be able to make the best out of it.”

The Spaniard stressed Honda will be dominant due to the long straights of the Temple of Speed, but he will not give up easily:” I think Honda will dominate. They have a very good and powerful car on the straights, as they showed in Shanghai, another fast layout, so they will surely be the car to beat. Nevertheless, we still have two races to do and we still have something to say.”

Speaking of today’s test session, Gené says he was not on the limit, and there is still work to do on the car:” There is room for improvement in the setup, it was not perfect, but I am sure everybody is in the same situation, we are all going to work tonight, so I guess we will see tomorrow. At the end of Free Practice 2 we will have a much clearer idea of what is going to happen this weekend.”

After a very positive weekend in Portugal, with a double podium, Jordi Gené is fourth in the championship, 26 points behind Target Competition’s Stefano Comini.