Gianni Morbidelli concerned over Honda race pace

Gianni Morbidelli finished the opening Free Practice in Valencia, Spain, in fourth, just behind the SEAT León Racers of Craft-Bamboo Lukoil.

The Italian feels he is where he expected to be:”There were no surprises today, where are where we thought we would be,” said the WestCoast Racing driver. “Of course the situation is not ideal, because the ballast is doing its job and I can feel it.”

Morbidelli says the SEATs will be very quick this weekend, and the results of Free Practice 1 showed the true pace of the Spanish cars:”I pretty much did the same lap time I clocked yesterday, whereas SEAT were probably hiding a little during testing. To be honest, I expected that and I am just trying to get the best out of what we have at the moment.”

While the Honda driver is not unhappy about the pace over one lap, he will need to work in race conditions:”Our race pace is a concern. The car is obviously quite quick, but at the moment the brakes are an issue. We seem to struggle to keep them efficient over several laps, and this is what we are going to work on in the second Free Practice.”

Morbidelli is currently in the lead of the championship, 2 points ahead of Target Competition’s Stefano Comini.