High-speed Monza next up for the WTCC this weekend

The World Touring Car Championship returns to Monza for the first time in four years this weekend, and the high-speed Italian circuit is set to be a complete contrast to the tight, street circuit season opener in Morocco three weeks’ ago.

The Italian circuit will host the current generation TC1 cars for the first time. Last time out in 2013, both races were won by Yvan Muller, then driving a privateer Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T, which put the Frenchman well on his way towards his fourth and final championship title.

This weekend, Honda’s Tiago Monteiro heads in as the leader, but many expect he’d do well to be leading the championship at the end of the weekend, with the Italian circuit, close to JAS Motorsport’s home base, perhaps ironically considered to be the worst circuit for the Civic WTCC.

“We arrive at Monza in the best possible position; leading the championship and with a car free of compensation weight,” said Monteiro. “But I think this could be a hard weekend because, by default, a hatchback, like the Civic, is at a disadvantage to the saloon-bodied cars at tracks like Monza with very long straights.

“I think we’ll just have to take every point we can get and be satisfied. But the team have worked incredibly hard over the winter to improve the aero package, and develop the engine into the best it’s ever been.”

While Honda could struggle, Monza will be the first opportunity to see the true pace of the new Volvo S60s of Polestar Cyan Racing. The Swedish team hid their pace during the pre-season test by running without transponders. Yvan Muller himself was behind the wheel during the test of the #63 Volvo S60 in his role as development driver, and the circuit is certainly expected to favour the powerful 400bhp Drive-E engine and D-segment saloon.

Nicky Catsburg is Volvo’s best-placed driver after a consistent weekend in Morocco, even though it was his two team-mates who picked up a podium each at the African street race, and says the aim for the team at Monza is nothing short of a win.

“I kept my expectations quite low ahead of the season but knew that if we could do well in Marrakech, we can do well everywhere,” said Catsburg. “Now I have quite high expectations for Monza. You have to change your mindset now that you know that we have a car with the potential to claim the world title. I think we can fight for victories at Monza and that is the plan.”

Team-mate Thed Björk echoes Catsburg’s expectations at Monza, but also warns the privateer Citroëns will likely be the main threat.

“We need to be ahead of Honda at Monza, but let’s not forget the Citroëns,” he said. “They are really strong here as well. This track should suit us better than Marrakech and Hungaroring for example, and we need to deliver where we are strong. My dream scenario this weekend is a 1-2-3 in the main race.”

Citroën will have four cars on the grid, three run by Sébastien Loeb Racing, and one by Münnich Motorsport for Rob Huff, who topped every session at the track back in mid-March at the season launch.

The Brit left Morocco disappointed after running into trouble in both races. Huff was racing last weekend at the fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, picking up a pair of podiums in a Team WRT-run Volkswagen Golf, and will trade one iconic European circuit for another when he races at Monza this weekend.

Although Monza is also famous in touring car racing for its slipstream benefit, that will only be part of the story in qualifying, as since the championship last raced there the top-five one-lap shootout has been introduced.

The first track activity doesn’t take place until Saturday morning, with two 45-minute free practice sessions before qualifying and the MAC3 time trial in the afternoon. Considering the slipstream effect, the MAC3 event could be one of the more interesting of the post-qualifying heats on the calendar.

The opening race, with the reversed top ten grid, takes place on Sunday at 12:15 CET for nine laps, with the longer 11-lap main race due to start at 14:15 CET.

2017 WTCC Race of Italy Entry List

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
8 – Aurélien Panis – FRA – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Münnich Motorsport – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – FRA – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
34 – Ryo Michigami – JPN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
61 – Néstor Girolami – ARG – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
62 – Thed Björk – SWE – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Nicky Catsburg – NED – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yann Ehrlacher – FRA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
86 – Esteban Guerrieri – ARG – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
99 – Daniel Nagy – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC

2017 WTCC Race of Italy Timetable

Saturday 29th April
09:00 – Free Practice 1
12:00 – Free Practice 2
14:15 – Qualifying
15:25 – MAC3

Sunday 30th April
12:15 – Race 1 (9 laps)
14:15 – Race 2 (11 laps)

2017 WTCC Race of Italy Compensation Weight

Car – Weight – Ballast
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – 1,150kg – +50kg
Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – 1,100kg – +0kg
Honda Civic WTCC – 1,100kg – +0kg
Lada Vesta WTCC – 1,100kg – +0kg
Volvo S60 TC1 – 1,100kg – +0kg