Gabriele Tarquini warns that passing is a near impossibility in Moscow

Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team’s Gabriele Tarquini has brought the fight to Citroën this weekend after qualifiying third, just two-tenths off of the time from Yvan Muller, but the 2009 champion warns that qualifying was the key to victory and it’s more likely his team-mate Tiago Monteiro will take victory on Sunday from the reversed grid race than he will in race one.

The Italian was fastest in Friday testing and in Free Practice 1 this morning with the Honda Civic, which is more suited to the Hermann Tilke-designed circuit than the more recent tracks where the Citroën’s top speed advantage has played into their favour.

“This weekend I focused on qualifying because I knew at this track it’s very important the start and from last year’s experience overtaking is always difficult,” said Tarquini. “Especially in our car because we are normally not faster than the others on the straight. I’m happy because since the first lap in Free Practice 0 the car was good and I focused on this to improve a little bit. In the end I made a good lap but it was not enough to beat the Citroën.”

“The characteristics of this track make better the characteristics of our car. The top speed is always important but at this track it’s not very important.”

Looking ahead to what the 53-year-old can do from third on the grid behind the Citroën C-Elysées of Yvan Muller and José María López, while team-mate Tiago Monteiro benefits from pole position for race two courtesy of setting the tenth fastest time in qualifying, Tarquini responded:

“I think the overall prospect for Tiago is better than me because he is in pole position for race two. Normally our standing start is not bad and I think he can stay in first position until the chequered flag.”