Gianni Morbidelli facing hard work on Honda Civic TCR ‘Step 2’

Gianni Morbidelli came third in the Testing session at Buriram, Thailand. The WestCoast Racing driver is at the wheel of the new ‘Step 2’ version of the Honda Civic, which is a completely new car in many aspects, such as the engine and the front suspension.

“I think that being on par with the older version of the Civic is already positive,” said Morbidelli to TouringCarTimes. “Of course this is part of the future plans for Honda in the TCR, so we know that we have a good basis to work on for the future.”

The Italian talked about the small issues encountered in the session: “At the very beginning we had a power steering gremlin, but it quickly went away. The new engine is quite similar in terms of power, but it suffers from high temperatures and that is something we need to keep an eye on during the weekend, because it’s really hot here in Buriram. Being in the slipstream will also be tricky. In general, the engine is good although it feels a bit ‘lazy’ at high revs, but again that’s something we will need to work on. I am not worried, this is a very good basis to develop for the future.”

Talking about the other differences from the old version, which Kevin Gleason and René Munnich are still driving, the Honda driver said: “This car has a new front suspension, as well as new brakes. We had reliability problems with the brakes during the season (Morbidelli famously lost the brakes at Turn 3 at the Red Bull Ring, crashing into Stefano Comini in the process), but now they seem to be okay. Honestly I had hoped for a bit more bite, but the feeling compared to the old Civic TCR is not too different, also in terms of handling.”

Despite this, the Italian was very clear about his feelings and hopes for the new car: “I want it to be clear, I’m not playing this car down. On the contrary, I think that with a new car we have a lot of space for developement, which makes me hope for a good improvement in the future. As for this weekend, the situation is different, because it’s a new machine and it needs testing and developement, so I’m not sure where we will be come tomorrow. The future is very bright for this car, I’m sure, and racing it as early as now adds to the plans JAS have for the TCR category, which are very positive for Honda and for the championship.”

Gianni Morbidelli lies fourth in the championship, 47 points shy of leader Stefano Comini.