Photo: TCR Media

Lack of mileage at Spa leaves Dusan Borkovic “lost”

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Dusan Borkovic had a troubled weekend so far at Spa-Francorchamps, as the Serbian driver only managed eight laps around the iconic Belgian circuit. The GE-Force driver had a newly-built Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, and some teething problems left him unable to drive in Free Practice 1.

“It’s difficult, because I know the track from the races I’ve done here, but with this car it’s completely different”, said the Serbian to TouringCarTimes. “We have a new car and on such a fast circuit you don’t want to make too many experiments, I only did a handful of laps and I didn’t have time to look for the limit.”

Borkovic feels that with the Balance of Performance giving the Alfa Romeos an extra 20 kgs and his 30-kg success ballast the balance of the car is compromised, which will prevent him from having a good result in qualifying.

“I have a lot of extra ballast, 20 + 30 kgs, and it shows that the Alfa is not ready to carry that weight. We have a lot of power, but not quite enough. We also went out on old tyres, so I don’t know what to expect with the new ones.”

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The Serbian also expressed his frustration at the new drivers having more new tyres available, given the huge amount of newcomers driving at Spa this weekend. Many of the local drivers also had the chance to race at the Belgian track two weeks ago in TCR Benelux, which gives them a further advantage.

“I am frustrated, just like many drivers down the pit lane, because the newcoming drivers have many more new tyres available and that feels unfair. Most of them already drove here two weeks ago, and they had plenty of time to reach the limit of the car. In qualifying I don’t know what to expect, I feel like I’m lost, because you only have two laps to get into Q2 and it’s impossible for me.”

Looking back on where he was last year, when he got pole position for B3 Racing in his SEAT, Borkovic is particularly disheartened. He is also 50 kgs heavier than he was previously, which makes the job even more complicated

“I was on pole position last year, but I didn’t have all of these problems. I don’t know what to expect from the car, of course it is good, but I think the 50 kgs affect the balance a lot. There are so many fast cars and I honestly believe we will struggle to get through to Q2.”