Jordi Gené admits he needs ‘something spectacular’ to clinch title

Despite having scored a second and a fourth place, Jordi Gené is still 34 points off the lead in the championship with only 55 left. The Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver admits he is the underdog going into the Macau finale

“For the last few races I’ve been doing good, but not enough to shrink the gap from the leaders,” admitted the Spaniard. “Unless they (Stefano Comini and Pepe Oriola) do something spectacular with each other – which might happen – and I would not be too surprised. Having said that, anything can happen in Macau, it is a special place, it’s very nice place, so let’s wait and see what happens.”

Talking about today’s races, Gené said: “We decided not to attack each other. I think the SEAT was the best car today, it was quick and the tyres were working really well, I think we were fast, unfortunately with the reversed grid it’s always difficult to make up for points as people who have struggled in Qualifying will be in a good position in the second race.”

As for any team strategies with Oriola, who is clearly in a better position than Gené for the championship, the SEAT driver replied to TouringCarTimes: “We have respected each other all year and he has good chances of winning the title. We will see where we qualify and then we will decide. Remember there will also be Rob Huff with the Honda in Macau, and he will surely be at the front, so that’s another factor to take into consideration. We have to do anything we can to gain points.”

As for his previous experience in Macau, Jordi Gené feels the value of such experience is very high: “Honestly it is a big advantage because the place is special. The track changes a lot from Free Practice to Qualifying, the references change quite quickly and you need to have experience, because as soon as you make a mistake you’re in the wall. Of course it is an advantage but, having said that, to win the championship I would have to win both races and Stefano would have to score almost no points, so it can happen but it’s not likely.”

Gené will enter the season finale with an outside chance of winning the title, with 34 points to make up for and 55 left up for grabs.