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Lada drivers discuss WTCC rule changes

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Lada Sport Lukoil is going to field three cars in the 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship for James Thompson, Rob Huff and Mikhail Kozlovskiy. The team is currently building the new TC1 specification Lada Granta Sport cars, but the technical regulations are not the only new thing the team is facing this season.

A number of changes have been made to the sporting regulations, including the removal of rolling starts which Thompson welcomes.

”To be honest I was never really a fan of rolling starts, for a couple of reasons. The close proximity to the car in front at the start means you can seldom see the lights change,” said Thompson.

”If you aren’t on the first row of the grid, you have to predict the start of the race from the cars around you. This has the added danger of bunching the field more closely as it arrives at the first corner, while a standing start adds another dimension to the race for a team and driver, placing more importance on a good start that prevents the opposition from stealing positions at the green light.”

The qualifying system has been revised with a third qualifying session which will decide the first five positions on the grid.

“Regarding qualifying, I think Q3 will really add to the spectacle. There will only be five cars on the track in Q3 and there will be something going on the entire time. Again, it puts even more emphasis on the driver and doing one-lap shootouts – a ‘super pole’ – will add to the excitement and adventure of the new WTCC era,” said Huff.

Kozlovskiy states that while the change to the qualifying system is good, he thinks that it will not change much for the drivers.

“Regarding the third qualifying leg, I don’t think it will be a serious change for drivers, because the driver pushes hard in each session. The only thing that has to be kept in mind is the new tyre strategy. The drivers hitting the top-five and passing through to Q3 will have to keep a new set of tyres, so there won’t be room for mistakes in Q1 and Q2,” said Kozlovskiy and comments the penalty weight system:

”Speaking about other sporting regulations, it’s good that the weight compensation system will remain. Due to the new technical rules, the balance of power in the championship can change in an unpredictable way. But thanks to this system, the motorsport fans will always have a chance to enjoy tough and spectacular competition. This is what the WTCC is loved for, after all!”