Kevin Gleason critical of Balance of Performance in Valencia

WestCoast Racing’s Kevin Gleason scored a fourth in the action-packed Race 2 at Valencia, Spain, but the American is not happy at all with the way the weekend went.

In an ever growing controversy about the extra weight imposed to the Honda Civic TCRs, Gleason spoke out his hopes for a revised Balance of Performance in Portugal, this weekend.

“Ultimately, my WestCoast Racing team and I had no hope of mounting a challenge for race wins in Valencia and a debate over the championship’s Balance of Performance dominated the weekend’s proceedings,” said Gleason.

“In addition, I had never been to Circuit Ricardo Tormo and getting in as many laps as possible before the weekend began in earnest was crucial, although the extra weight imposed on my teammates and I definitely compromised our progress.”

Gleason described his weekend:” Qualifying was positive and I put in a really strong time and go second quickest overall in Q1. Rolling into Q2, however, fuel-flow issues prevented me from turning in a lap and resigned me to 12th on the grid. This put me on the back foot for Sunday and, to rub salt in the wound, I missed out on the top ten reversed grid for race two.”

The American did not enjoy more luck on Sunday:” In the first race a sluggish getaway sent me to the rear of the field, but I quickly made amends by scything my way back up the order to finish 11th. In Race 2 (team-mate Gianni) Morbidelli, carrying front-end damage, recovered well to finish third in the final classification, directly ahead of me in fourth place. Sadly, the fuel-flow issues that curtailed my qualifying run resurfaced during the final few laps of Round 6 on Sunday afternoon and all I could do was nurse the car home to the finish, but both of us ultimately benefited from the drive-through penalties and disqualifications handed out to drivers for passing under the Safety Car.”

Gleason went on to talk about the ballast imposed on the Civic TCR, which limited the development work WestCoast Racing had planned to carry out on Friday, during testing:”The ballast made it tough; you can feel the additional weight in the car, but you have to accept that there’s nothing you can do about it and adjust your direction and take a different approach to figure out which setup is going to be most effective. Of course, altering your car’s configuration under those conditions can skew your impression of the changes and could potentially make some of your work redundant if the BoP is readjusted later in the season. Having said that, anything we learn – weight or no weight – at this early stage of development is good.”

The American praised WestCoast Racing’s attitude, as the Swedish team seems to work beyond schedule in order to prepare the cars:”I have to say, you can’t question WestCoast Racing’s dedication because our mechanics and engineers were hard at work to ensure the cars were in the best shape possible for free practice, qualifying and the races. I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen since day one, as the team works hard every day, with no let-up in their effort, staying at the circuits during race weekends until the early hours of the morning and then returning before 9.00am. I feel lucky to be part of such a professional organisation with so much commitment and talent.”

The team’s dedication is one of the points Gleason uses to stress the need to reassess the Balance of Performance:”This is precisely why it’s a bit unjust that WestCoast Racing should be penalised for its efforts. The championship organisers are making quick decisions without enough information and, as you could see from the SEAT-dominated races at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, the relative performance of each car isn’t quite balanced. WestCoast Racing has shown a great deal of professionalism and they continue to work hard, both at the track and back at base, to make the Honda Civic TCR – a brand new car for 2015 – competitive, only to be penalised.”

The American has therefore nothing to say about the team, but hopes for a different weight attribution this weekend in Portugal:”On the whole, I’m really happy with the team and the car I’ve been supplied with and we will keep our heads down as we prepare for the next round of the season at Autódromo Internacional Algarve in Portimao, Portugal, in the hope that the TCR International Series can get these BoP issues sorted out.”

Kevin Gleason is fifth in the championship on 57 points, four ahead of Craft-Bamboo Lukoil’s Jordi Gené and 49 shy of the lead.