Last stop Macau for the TCR International Series
The final round of the TCR International Series will take place at the legendary Circuito da Guia in Macau. With the drivers’ and teams’ title going to the wire, as well as some tasty additions to the 30-car field, the season finale promises for a great show in the former Portuguese colony.
With just two points separating Target Competition’s Stefano Comini and Craft-Bamboo Lukoil’s Pepe Oriola, the title fight is very tight, but Jordi Gené still has an outside chance of winning the crown, as the Spaniard lies 34 points behind the championship leader and, more importantly, boasts huge experience at the unforgiving street track from his previous spell in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.
Gené has an incredibly hard task however, as the Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver would have to score at least 10 points more than Comini and seven more than team-mate Oriola to keep his title hopes alive for the second race.
The addition to the grid of Macau specialist Rob Huff adds to the mix, making the Lada Sport Rosneft regular a possible deciding factor in the title fight. The Brit, who has tested the Honda Civic TCR before heading to Buriram, is eager to win again at his favourite track, thus adding to his record run of seven wins at the legendary track.
“My mission is to win or nothing, that is the only mission Honda gave me, and I will try my best to achieve that,” said Huff to TouringCarTimes.
“The car offers good value for the money, it’s very nice to drive. It’s quite similar to a TC2 car. Honda presented me with the opportunity to score win number eight in Macau, so it’s very exciting. I did it in the WTCC, so I am confident I can do it again in the TCR Series. I wouldn’t have taken this opportunity had I not thought I could win, the car looks very good and I can’t wait for the race to come.”
Despite the welcome presence of Rob Huff, the attention will be focused on the season-long battle between Stefano Comini and Pepe Oriola, as their respective teams also fight for the Teams’ crown. Craft-Bamboo Lukoil go into the weekend with a 13-points margin over Target Competition, which boasts a six-car effort this weekend, including race winner Andrea Belicchi who returns to the team after skipping Singapore and Buriram.
As for the drivers, the tiny margin means and Comini’s lack of experience at the tricky Circuito da Guia means the Swiss will have to do his best in order to clinch the title, as Oriola has a strong record at the iconic street track. The Spaniard will however carry 30 kilos of ballast, with the Target Competition driver laden with 20 kilos.
We have seen a lot of unexpected things happen in Macau previously, so it’s not safe to rule Gené out of contention before the weekend, despite the gap from the lead and his 10kg ballast.
To add to the picture, Gianni Morbidelli was ruled out of contention for the title in Buriram, but with previous experience in Macau and some great performances this year, he can be a deciding factor in the title race just as Huff could. Driving the new version of the Honda Civic TCR, which proved to be very competitive in Thailand after scoring pole position, he will surely want to take his first win since Monza at such an iconic track.
The Italian’s lead over WestCoast Racing team-mate Kevin Gleason is down to just seven points, and the American will want to finish the season on a high, possibly by outscoring the former Formula 1 driver.
The weekend will start on Thursday with the first free practice session, scheduled for 11.25 CS
On Friday action will continue with the second session at 12.30, with qualifying scheduled for Saturday morning at 7.30.
The two races on Sunday will last ten laps (or 35 minutes) and are scheduled for 10.07 and 11.22.
