Pepe Oriola: “Balance of Performance not enough to beat Honda”

Pepe Oriola will take part in his home race at Valencia, Spain, where the Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver will be at the wheel of his SEAT León Racer.

TouringCarTimes met up with the local star to discuss his chances for Valencia and the remainder of the season.

“Racing at home is very nice because I will have a lot of support from my family, friends and fans, and this will give me a boost,” said the Spaniard. “With extra support, though, comes pressure. Also, the Ricardo Tormo is a track many people know well, because it is often used for testing during the winter, so I will not have a real advantage in terms of better track knowledge,” admitted Oriola.

The Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver had an issue with the engine in the afternoon, after a strong run in the earlier stages of the test day: “We don’t know exactly what is wrong with the engine, but I’m sure the SEAT Sport technicians will sort that out. All I know is that the engine was not delivering the same power as this morning.”

Oriola is happy with the way his season went so far:”I think the speed is there. I had a very good weekend in Sepang with two podiums, but I was unlucky in the first race in Shanghai and couldn’t do any more than fourth in the second, Honda were really fast and so were the Target Competition drivers, Andrea Belicchi and Stefano Comini.”

Despite the disappointment in China, the Spaniard is confident about his chances for the championship:”Of course it’s very early in the season, so I have plenty of time to make up for the bad luck I had in Shanghai. It’s not easy because the level is high, but we’ve seen the speed is there and hopefully we will be fighting for the title going into Macau.”

Oriola admitted that Honda are doing a good job and that the Balance of Performance will be helpful but not enough for the SEAT León Racers to be on par with the JAS-built Civic TCR:”There are huge differences between the SEAT and the Honda. When our car was built, the engineers had a one-make series car in mind, whereas Honda have created this car especially for this championship. We have more weight at the front due to the DSG gearbox, which also limits the amount of engine brake we have.

As a result, they have a better tyre wear and a faster gearshift. I have full faith in SEAT Sport though, and with the amount of effort we are putting in the development of this car I’m sure we will close the gap from Honda and fight on equal terms during the season. The Balance of Performance helps to that respect, but we must not rely on it too much.”

Oriola is now fourth in the championship, 23 points behind leader Gianni Morbidelli. Besides the Balance of Performance, the Spaniard will also benefit from not carrying any success ballast.