Volkswagen teams relying on further development

Leopard Racing was left satisfied with the results of Portuguese round of the TCR International Series, with Stefano Comini finishing on the podium twice and Jean-Karl Vernay finishing second in the first race of the weekend, but hopes further development from Volkswagen will help aid their progress.

“It was a very good weekend,” said Leopard Racing team principal Claudio Berro to TouringCarTimes. “Having both drivers on the podium was fantastic in the first race, and it’s a shame Jean-Karl had a problem in the second race, otherwise I’m sure we would have celebrated a double 2-3, which would have been even more satisfying.”

Despite the positive results, Berro is aware that the Balance of Performance weight break was an important help: “It was good to have a lighter car, we were competitive. I have to say that the weight break alone wouldn’t have been enough, we made good progress as a team and learned more about the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.”

Berro says Volkswagen will help customer teams to fix the issues they have and cannot solve themselves, such as the excessive drag: “It’s not just us, it’s also Liqui Moly Team Engstler, we are using a car that is a good product but also has some issues. Volkswagen understand that they have sold us the cars, but they also need to take care of their customers – I worked in that area for many years, so I am fully aware of this mechanism. They understand our issues and will surely help us. It would be great if we could have the same straight-line speed as the others, it would make the championship even more exciting.”

Despite its success during its debut weekend at Red Bull Ring in 2015, with Pol Rosell behind the wheel scoring an early victory, the Volkswagen Golf has since failed to win a race. Leopard Racing took Volkswagen’s best results to date in Portugal since Rosell’s win last year in Austria.