Photo: Castrol Honda WTC

Honda happy with progress after securing 2-3 on grid in Russia

By

The Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team put in its best performance of the season at the Moscow Raceway, with Gabriele Tarquini qualifying in second position and Tiago Monteiro third for the first race of the day on pace.

Tarquini had shown Honda’s true performance when he rolled out a 1:38.754 in the first part of qualifying, which would remain the fastest time he set during the day, though he was consistent with a pair of 1:38.8s in Q2 and Q3, the last of which secured his second position.

Tiago Monteiro was also quick in the Honda Civic, qualifying third, and the Portuguese driver can aim to close the gap to the next driver in the Championship on race day, the Citroen of Sébastien Loeb, who starts just one spot behind in fourth.

“I am really proud of the team today,” said JAS Motorsport team principal Alessandro Mariani. “We proved that we are on the right way, step by step to enjoy the results. The car is better and has improved a lot. We worked during the practice on the set up for the long run to prepare for the race. It is also a good result for the private team cars to show that the Civic is right on the pace.”

Tarquini, taking his best qualifying position of the season, added
“It was difficult right at the start of Q1 with the circuit drying but we made the right decision on tyres. I pushed as hard as possible today and am delighted with the results. I have a very good set-up for the races tomorrow and feel confident. We need to check the weather forecast in the morning and it will also depend on the passing chances right after the start.”

Monteiro, whose last minute lap in Q2 leaped him from 12th to fifth, knocking pre-qualifying favourite Yvan Muller out, was also happy with his qualifying pace.

“The team has worked very hard to improve all aspects of the car and the results show this performance increase,” said Monteiro. “I was able to push the reigning Champion out of Q2 and take my place in the shootout which shows we are getting stronger at each race. I am really looking for another podium result from the first race tomorrow.”