Mat’o Homola pleased with Valencia test

Mat’o Homola was left pleased with the performance of his 2016-spec SEAT León after taking part in his first pre-season test of the year at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

The 21-year-old from Slovakia makes the move into the TCR International Series this season with the B3 Racing team and will campaign an updated version of the León he used in the FIA European Touring Car cup last year.

With ideal weather conditions in Spain, Homola was able to complete plenty of meaningful running and declared himself happy with his first run in the car.

“I focused on physical and mental training during the winter, but I could not wait to get back behind the wheel,” he said. “Today’s testing revealed that we have a great tool in our hands, which can keep us in the lead. But we will not be the only team racing the SEAT.

“The new sequential gearbox is a lot lighter than the one used last year which changes the vehicle weight distribution, and we need to adjust the settings accordingly. We have tested several brake pad compounds and we are still looking for the optimal solution, which will make the the car faster and better for me as well.”

B3 Racing team engineer Manuel Huguet was also happy with the outcome of the test.

“We have gathered a lot of data today, which is perfect,” he said. “We have been able to test several suspension settings and we have tested starts, which are very important as well.

“Mat’o is a really passionate driver and has done a great job today. We are still facing some small issues with the car, which are typical for the new machine, but nothing serious and it is always better to find things out during testing rather than on a real race.

“I really like his logical attitude and his thinking behind the wheel. I hope that we have a great season ahead!”