Lada’s Nicky Catsburg has a head-start heading to Motegi

Lada Sport Rosneft driver Nicky Catsburg is the only one of the team’s drivers who has prior experience at Motegi ahead of this weekend’s round of the World Touring Car Championship there, while the team’s new driver Nicolas Lapierre will also be learning the ropes, adapting to touring car racing and the front-wheel drive Vesta WTCC.

“The layout is very nice, I have driven in Japan once before and it was at Motegi,” said Catsburg.

“I know the track and I am looking forward to coming back to this special country, I really like the people, the culture and Tokyo is an amazing city. I cannot wait to go. The test work during the summer break has been positive, although I believe we have to keep on working. I know our opponents are not sitting still, so we need to keep pushing on the development side. I am convinced we have improved the car since our last race in Portugal, so I am looking forward to Motegi.”

Lapierre, making his WTCC debut this weekend with Lada, is aware that he has a long list of firsts this weekend.

“I’ve never been to Motegi, this is another point I will have to learn this week end,” he said. “I have watched a lot of onboard cameras from Super GT and Super Formula and it looks very challenging, and I’m sure we will see a lot of overtaking.”

Rob Huff has won in Japan before, albeit at the Okayama circuit, but not since 2010. The 2012 champion will be chasing strong results following the two month break.

“This will be the third different Japanese track I have raced at in the WTCC since Okayama and Suzuka and am really looking forward to the challenge at Motegi,” said Huff.

“The team has been working hard to further develop the Vesta TC1 since the last meeting in Portugal and we head into the final quarter of the season with confidence high in the camp.”