Photo: TCR

Giacomo Altoè and WestCoast make progress with best result in Hungary

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WestCoast Racing took their best result of the season at the Hungaroring, with 16-year-old Giacomo Altoè just missing out on the podium in the second race in the team’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

“We are getting nearer,” said Altoè to TouringCarTimes. “Honestly it was a little difficult to do the podium today as (Pepe) Oriola was a bit faster, but it’s a good day for us, I’m quite happy.”

Altoè lost ground at the start to Jens Reno Möller, with the Dane having a great start, some said too great a start, in his Honda Civic, while the youngster was ahead of the Turn 1 melee which claimed his team-mate.

“My start was not perfect,” explained Altoè. “I could have done better, but the Hondas’ start really well. It was good points, so not bad. After the test we did (at Adria), we understand the car more, and now it’s much better – we’re still improving and learning.”

Morbidelli was oblivious to the cause of the accident which saw him taken out at Turn 1, after scoring two points in Race 1 with ninth despite a turbo problem.

“In front of me, Huff spun, I just avoided that and thought wow, good, I avoided him, and then at exactly that moment I felt a big shunt on my car,” said Morbidelli to TouringCarTimes.

“Giacomo did a good race and was able to finish in a good position, but I don’t know, I only did 200 metres, not enough to understand. In the first race, I had a problem with the engine and lost power on the sixth lap – I couldn’t even get out of fifth gear on the straight, so I just cruised around and took ninth place.”

Team manager James Nixon was happy with the team’s progress, but with their ‘benchmark’ Jean-Karl Vernay qualifying second and finishing third in Race 1, says the team still has work to do.

“We are still far from our reference point in the Volkswagen, which we consider to be Jean-Karl Vernay, who, having watched him again this week sets a strong reference point, as I consider him to probably be the best driver in the series,” said Nixon.

“Our cars are the same so together our drivers and the team need to work harder to improve and bring ourselves nearer still to finish the season on a strong and positive note.”