Jordi Gené:”Honda still have the edge over SEAT”

Jordi Gené was fastest in Free Practice 1 in Valencia, Spain. The Craft Bamboo Lukoil driver was 0.002s quicker than team-mate Pepe Oriola, but he doesn’t think the team will dominate.

“The base is clearly good, we have good pace in the car,” admitted the Spaniard. “On the other hand (team-mate) Pepe (Oriola) is very near, and the other guys are also quite close, so it’s not going to be easy. I’m surely happy to be in front, but it doesn’t mean we are going to be dominant this weekend.”

Despite WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli’s concerns over the Honda’s pace in the race, Gené is sure that the JAS-built car will be more efficient than the SEAT León Racer due to the TCR-based configuration of the Civic:”I think Honda will actually have an advantage over the race distance, because they have a car especially built for TCR, whereas our SEAT León Racer was designed to be a cup car. They have more sophisticated cooling systems and I think that in hot conditions they will have the edge over us.”

The Spaniard is convinced that Valencia is a good track for the SEAT León Racer, but Morbidelli will be in a good position to collect points and retain the lead of the championship:”I think there are five to seven drivers who can win the championship, so it’s important to always score points. Morbidelli has a points advantage, I hope he doesn’t score too many this weekend but if nothing happens to him he is going to be scoring points. It’s a good circuit for us, but it still doesn’t give us a huge advantage over our competitors.”