Vila Real plays host to the European final of the 2016 WTCC this weekend

The World Touring Car Championship returns to Vila Real in Portugal for the second year in a row this weekend, with the unforgiving street circuit marking the end of the European leg of the 2016 season.

The street race follows on from a dramatic run of races in the WTCC, strewn with controversy, drama and surprises. First, Honda’s disqualification in Morocco after a dominant display, with Rob Huff scoring pole position and his first non-reversed grid victory in four years, to be painfully taken away after the team’s new flat floor was deemed illegal.

Then Honda team-mate Tiago Monteiro’s championship aspirations were given a further blow when his Civic punctured while leading at the Nürburging, resulting in a worst case no score weekend.

Then, last time out, the rain came and shook the order, hurling the Ladas to the front of the grid at their home event, with Gabriele Tarquini and Nicky Catsburg scoring surprising but also well received victories, with Catsburg now finding himself as the joint-closest man in the championship to points leader José María López.

Unstoppable José María López just needs to keep scoring

The two-time champion however has the strongest points lead of his career at this point in the season, with the fight now turning into one about who will be second best to the Argentinian, who could be leaving the championship with a bang as a triple champion when his team Citroën leave at the end of the year.

“You need to stay really humble on this circuit,” said López. “It is full of difficulties; tight turns, fast, blind bends, chicanes where you need to jump over the rumblestrips. It’s not always easy to build up speed and maintain the right line. The slightest error can ruin your lap or send you crashing off! I like the challenge of Vila Real. I also like the atmosphere in the town. The Portuguese people are passionate about motorsport and they make sure we know it.”

Honda hoping to have the ‘home’ advantage

Honda will be aiming to be back in the mix after a tough weekend at the Moscow Raceway, although they’ve gained weight since Russia, and now will carry 60kg of compensation weight, just 20kg less than Citroën.

The event is most important for the Japanese manufacturer’s best-placed driver in the standings, Tiago Monteiro, driving in front of his home crowd.

“I’m really looking forward to racing in front of my home fans on the streets of Vila Real,” he said.

“The support I get here is absolutely fantastic and I would love to give them a win. As far as street circuits go, Vila Real is one of the best around. It’s long, there’s a fantastic amount of elevation change and some of the corners are really super-fast. Having 60kg of compensation weight this weekend is far from ideal, but the Civic WTCC is a very strong car – as we proved in the dry and damp conditions in Russia and we are aiming high.”

Lada looking to close on Honda, but first, miss the walls

Lada Sport may still be on cloud nine after their historic achievement at home two weeks’ ago, scoring a pair of 1-2 finishes and with Catsburg now fighting for second in the drivers’ championship with the likes of Monteiro, Yvan Muller and the top privateer Citroën of Mehdi Bennani, but their success has hit them hard, with the latest lap time-based weight calculations awarding the Vesta WTCC a near-maximum 70kg of compensation weight this weekend.

The circuit also was well and truly christened by Catsburg last year, with the Dutchman bringing out the red flag which brought the second race to a premature end after a hard hit to the wall.

“I need to leave more room for error on this track,” said Catsburg. “Last year I brushed the wall probably ten occasions and the last time ended in a massive crash. As a driver you always search for the limit, as I did last year at Vila Real. This year I’ll try to be a bit more careful.

“Each track has its own challenges and sometimes the most “easy” looking circuits can be the most difficult. It’s hard to rate them all, but Vila Real is difficult because of changing track conditions throughout the sessions and the very small margin of error. You have some slow chicanes that are particularly hard on tyres, but it is a pleasure to race in Portugal for the climate and the enthusiastic fans.”

Ultralight Volvo introduce a mid-season driver change

Volvo meanwhile will enjoy being the lightest car on the grid this weekend, as the Swedish team welcomes back Robert Dahlgren to the WTCC, taking over from Fredrik Ekblom, and joining Thed Björk, who is relishing the chance to race on a street circuit.

“I am very glad to have Robert as team-mate again and to keep my cooperation with Fredrik in the development work in-between the races,” said Björk. “The Vila Real races is something I am absolutely looking forward to, it seems to be such a challenging circuit and I absolutely love street circuits.”

WTCC Race of Portugal Timetable

Friday 24th June
12:30 – Testing

Saturday 25th June
09:00 – Free Practice 1
11:00 – Free Practice 2
14:00 – Qualifying
15:30 – MAC3

Sunday 26th June
15:05 – Opening Race (13 Laps)
16:15 – Main Race (14 Laps)

* All times WEST (BST + 0hr, CET + 1hr)

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

WTCC Race of Portugal Entry List

No – Driver – Team – Car – Class
2 – Gabriele Tarquini – Lada Sport – Lada Vesta WTCC – WTCC TC1
3 – Tom Chilton – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – WTCC TC1
5 – Norbert Michelisz – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC – WTCC TC1
7 – Hugo Valente – Lada Sport – Lada Vesta WTCC – WTCC TC1
9 – Tom Coronel – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – WTCC TC1
10 – Nicky Catsburg – Lada Sport – Lada Vesta WTCC – WTCC TC1
11 – Grégoire Demoustier – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – WTCC TC1
12 – Rob Huff – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC – WTCC TC1
15 – James Thompson – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – WTCC TC1
18 – Tiago Monteiro – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC – WTCC TC1
25 – Mehdi Bennani – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – WTCC TC1
27 – John Filippi – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – WTCC TC1
37 – José María López – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – WTCC TC1
55 – Ferenc Ficza – Zengõ Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC – WTCC TC1
62 – Thed Bjӧrk – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1 – WTCC TC1
63 – Robert Dahlgren – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1 – WTCC TC1
68 – Yvan Muller – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – WTCC TC1
99 – Daniel Nagy – Zengõ Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC – WTCC TC1