Gianni Morbidelli rues missed double podium chance

Gianni Morbidelli had a positive race on Saturday in Bahrain, finishing second after some hard fights on track. Sunday however was much more difficult for the Italian, as a contact with WestCoast Racing team-mate Kevin Gleason triggered a puncture and took another podium finish away from the Honda driver.

“The results in Bahrain say we are competitive, but not as much as our SEAT rivals,” commented Morbidelli. “I could have climbed up on the podium twice in Bahrain, but I surely couldn’t have won twice like Pepe Oriola did.”

The Italian is not bitter over the contact with Gleason, but laments a missed chance to score valuable points: “Unfortunately yesterday the podium spot chance vanished when I had a misunderstanding with my team-mate. These things can happen, but they cost championship points.”

Saturday’s podium helps to make things a bit sweeter despite his Race 2 disappointment: “Luckily I took important points for WestCoast Racing and myself after a good but difficult fight, because the results on track show we are not as quick on the straight as SEAT.”

The TCR International Series resumes on April, 24th, at Estoril, Portugal.