ROAL happy after curtailed test at Valencia

ROAL Motorsport are happy with progress after a shortened test with the new Chevrolet RML Cruze at Valencia last week with Tom Chilton. The team had less running than they hoped due to an issue with the rear-wing of the new car, which only just completed its shakedown the previous week.

Chilton was able do 120km of running on Friday, effectively two race distances. The team had hoped to run 250km on each of the three days of the test, but the car arrived one day later than planned, and then a technical issue with the rear-wing mounting meant they were unable to do any running on Thursday.

“I am very positive about this short test at Valencia,” said team principal Roberto Ravaglia. “Obviously this was a new situation for us: a new car and a new driver. We still have to learn all of the car, and we will go step by step. The new RML Cruze WTCC is very interesting and balanced and, most important of all, the engine is very good. There is still a lot of work to do and time is very short. But we collected information and we are now focussed on getting Chilton’s and Coronel’s cars ready for the first WTCC event in Morocco in the middle of April.”

Tom Chilton’s Chevrolet Cruze TC1 is the second car to be prepared by RML for this season, with Tom Coronel’s not due to be ready for another two weeks. As a result, Coronel didn’t attend the test and instead drove this weekend in the Taiwan Option Touring Car Grand Prix in a BMW 320si, where he took pole position, won the race and broke the lap record at the Penbay International Circuit.