Good start key to Mikhail Grachev’s home win

Mikhail Grachev joined Pepe Oriola as the first three-time winner in the TCR International Series. The Russian won at home in style, taking the lead at the start to never look back.

“I am really happy of this win, the third of the season and at home!,” said the Honda driver. “I really want to thank WestCoast Racing because they did a fantastic job. I had a problem with my front tyres in Race 1, their temperature was too high and there was no grip. In-between the two races, the guys worked to find a solution, despite the very short turn-around time, and they managed to solve the problem.”

With the tyre issue fixed, Grachev was able to open a gap early in the race and manage it despite pressure from Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay: “The car was perfect. I could take a very good start, build some gap and stay in front. It wasn’t easy, there was a lot of fighting behind me and when I saw Vernay emerging, I knew I was going to have some pressure on me, but eventually it worked.”

However pleased with his strength at the starts, the Russian is now determined to improve his qualifying pace: “I think starting well in both races was key today, I am really happy about my starts since I drive the Civic, now I really want to improve my qualifying, so that I can be in a better position on the grids.”