New tyre stacks in Qatar praised by drivers, despite practice damage
New measures are in-place at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar to discourage breaching track limits, after the AstroTurf areas were cut back for the MotoGP event last year, offering the WTCC drivers the more opportunity to run wide and gain an advantage.
The FIA therefore placed tyre stacks at the exits of a number of corners to prevent drivers from running off. A number of drivers narrowly avoided the new stacks in the first practice session, with Daniel Nagy ending up in the gravel trap in his Zengő Honda instead of collecting the stack.
Honda’s Tiago Monteiro also hit one of the stacks with the left side of his Civic in the second practice session, losing the first ten minutes while his car was repaired, but went back out to set the fastest time.
“This year you can run wider and that’s why the stewards decided to put in the tyre packs, which I think is the correct decision,” said Citroën’s José María López. “We just need to see if the position is good. I think we need to have it or otherwise we will run much wider and use much more of the track. It’s mainly always the same issue at most of the tracks we go. Tracks today they tend to have more asphalt so it’s easier to drive. But it’s difficult for the stewards after to judge the track limits.”
Lada’s Gabriele Tarquini said the small kerbs at the Losail circuit meant it was easier for touring cars to break track limits, but that higher kerbs were probably absent from the circuit which is principally known as a motorcycle track.
“Normally at this track they run motorbikes, cars and Formula,” said Tarquini “Our cars are totally different from Formula, and very different from MotoGP, so we need special kerbs because our cars normally jump from the kerbs much easier than a Formula and motorbikes.
“The outside kerbs here are very small and we can run off very easily and you can gain (time). Here in every corner you can have a small gain, and for this reason you must put something to control all the cars and to have the same rules for everybody.”
