Chevrolet are confident for Puebla

Chevrolet heads to the second round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship next weekend. The first round was a disappointment for the team has all three drivers were outside the points in both races. But the drivers are confident that Mexico will be much better.
“We can face the Puebla event with some confidence. The new Cruze showed a good level of performance in its debut in Brazil and I believe we can move things forward in Mexico, where we were competitive last year,” said Rob Huff.

The place for the second race weekend is Puebla, some 2300 meters above sea level and a tricky surface according to Huff.

“Puebla is always a peculiar track, where track conditions may change very quickly. Sometimes, the track gets very greasy and it’s almost like driving on ice. Finding a good balance will be key, but I think we have the potential to do well.”

While touring car legend Alain Menu had high hopes for the premiere race which was crushed, he is happy with the performance of the car.

“Letting aside the result, I am happy with the behavior of the Cruze in Brazil. Most importantly, we have learnt a lot about the car during this first race week-end and we made substantial progress in setting up the car. Puebla should suit us even better, as it is a track with fewer straights. It would be nice if we can get closer to the diesel cars, but my first objective will be to score some good points,” said Menu.

Menu’s team mate Nicola Larini was on the way to score the first five points ever for the new Chevrolet Cruze, but was stripped of the points. The Italian is not happy.

“I still have to come to terms with the sanction inflicted to me in the first race in Brazil, as I think it was totally unjustified, and it deprived us of 5 well-deserved points. Still, this is motivating me even further ahead of Puebla. Last year, I was in first row and clinched a podium finish, so I hope to be able to do as well, although Puebla remains a very particular track,” said Larini.

Eric Nève, Manager Motorsport Chevrolet Europe, is equally hungry to get back in the points as his drivers.

“I hope we can reward their warm support with a good result, and most of all, that we’ll be able to have two incident-free races this time and see the potential of the Cruze materialized with some heavy points,” said Néve.

The team arrives to the track tomorrow where the work of rebuilding the cars will start. Project manager Mark Busfield is confident that the Mexican track will suit the Cruze well.

“The team will be arriving in Mexico on Sunday and start rebuilding the cars and preparing them for the next event. We are pleased with the cars’ pace in Brazil and we performed well in Mexico in the past, so we are pretty confident that Puebla should suit us well,” said Busfield.