Photo: Chevrolet media

Chevrolet frustrated after poor results

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The general feeling at Chevrolet seems to be frustration. The new Cruze showed good pace during the races, but the final results see the blue cars leaving Brazil without having scored even a single point.

Alain Menu scored the fastest lap in Race 2, but his misfortunes during the first event allowed him nothing better than an 11th position: “It is a frustrating result because we deserved much better, but this is racing. In race 1 I hadn’t the start that I wanted and when we got to turn 4, Monteiro hit me, causing a pile-up also involving Jörg Müller and Priaulx.”

“My race ended there and the bodywork of the car got damaged. Despite that, in race 2, the car was very good and got better lap after lap, allowing me to finish 11th and recording the fastest lap at the end of the race.”

Rob Huff blames bad luck for his hard weekend. The Brit ended race 1 when his throttle cable got broken, and his starting position in race 2 led him to a 13th place: “It must be written somewhere that Curitiba is jinxed for us! In race 1, I managed to avoid trouble in the initial laps and was aiming at some points, when the throttle stopped to function.”

“In race 2, starting from the back and with a wet track, we worked hard to move forward and made the best progress possible”.

After having received a penalty from the stewards for not piling up properly for the restart, Nicola Larini, who had come 5th during the first race scoring the Cruze’s first points in the WTCC, was moved down to 15th and struggled during race 2 for setup problems: “I am really infuriated for the sanction after race 1. I did a great race: at the start, I stayed on the right side of the track, where I knew there would be less problems, and got clear of the incident that stopped Alain.”

“The car was really good in the fast corners, I kept the 7th position without any trouble and then managed to gain two positions, to finish fifth, a very good result for the Cruze’s first race. I do not understand the penalty I got for the restart, as Monteiro was extremely slow and Farfus and I could only pull over to avoid contact. In Race 2, I struggled as I had a set-up for dry conditions”.

It seems that Chevrolet are happy with the new car’s performance, so they are only hoping for better fortunes heading to the next event in Puebla, Mexico.