Lada pay hefty penalty for Moscow pace in latest weight calculation

Lada Sport have paid the heaviest price for their fast pace in the wet at their home race in Moscow Raceway, with the Russian manufacturer acquiring an additional 50kg of compensation weight, putting them on the maximum ever base weight of 1,170kg for the next round of the World Touring Car Championship in Vila Real.

Nicky Catsburg’s pole lap was 1.4 seconds faster than that of the next placed car, which was his own team-mate Gabriele Tarquini in Russia, meaning in qualifying they were actually 3.5 seconds clear of the next fastest model, the Chevrolet Cruze of James Thompson.

With the team’s race laps taken into consideration, as well as their performances in Morocco and Germany, the three Vesta WTCCs of Catsburg, Tarquini and Hugo Valente were judged to be just 0.1 seconds away from the Citroëns over the three races, and so will be just 10kg lighter than the championship leaders in Portugal.

Honda have also had an increase, with the Japanese manufacturer gaining an extra 30kg from Moscow, with the Civic WTCCs assessed as just 0.2 seconds a lap slower than the pace-setting Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs.

Chevrolet also gain 10kg of compensation weight, their first performance ballast allocation all season, thanks to impressive pace in Germany from ROAL Motorsport’s Tom Coronel, and from Münnich Motorsport’s James Thompson in Russia.

Only the Volvo S60s of Polestar Cyan Racing will run ballast free in Portugal.

FIA WTCC – Race Of Portugal Compensation Weights

Car – Gap – Ballast – Total Weight
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – 0.0 – +80kg – 1,180kg
Lada Vesta WTCC – 0.1 – +70kg – 1,170kg
Honda Civic WTCC – 0.2 – +60kg – 1,160kg
Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – 0.7 – +1kg – 1,110kg
Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 – 1.1 – +0kg – 1,100kg