Preview: It’s no joke, Vila Real marks the half-way point of the season

The World Touring Car Championship returns to the Portuguese Vila Real circuit for the third time this weekend, with the race marking the half-way point of the 2017 championship season, with just ten rounds on the shortened calendar this year.

Extra spice is being added to the race which, despite delivering a fantastic home victory for then-championship outsider Tiago Monteiro in 2016, was generally devoid both of incident and overtaking moves.

Recognising this, series promoter Eurosport Events petitioned the FIA to introduce Rallycross-style “joker laps” for two of its three street circuit races this year – not daring to tinker with November’s Macau Grand Prix.

Though a viable option wasn’t found for the season opener at the Moulay El Hassan circuit in Morocco, a proposal has been accepted, subject to final scrutineering, for this weekend’s race at the Portuguese street circuit in Vila Real, 100km away from the city of Porto.

“The ‘joker’ lap concept works very well in rallycross, and I’m certain it will bring an extra dimension to the WTCC street race in Vila Real,”,” said Eurosport Events CEO Francois Ribeiro. “It will open up strategies for each WTCC driver, and might even change the course of the race.”

The joker ‘longcut’ will be located at the roundabout at Turn 26, which when taken will add about two seconds to a lap time.

Honda’s Tiago Monteiro, who lost the championship lead at the last race at the Nürburgring following a puncture in the opening race, hopes to bounce back in front of his home crowd, and is also interested in the extra dimension the joker lap will bring.

“I can’t wait to race in Portugal; it’s an annual highlight. The Douro valley is my home and the support I get there is just incredible,” said Monteiro.

“Winning last year was one of the best moments of my career and seeing the thousands of people around the podium who came out to celebrate with me was a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’d love to repeat that, both for the special feelings and to strengthen my fight for the championship. Qualifying will be critical, as it was last year, because overtaking is very tough on narrow street tracks like Vila Real, but the ‘joker lap’ will certainly spice things up in this area.”

Monteiro’s team-mate Norbert Michelisz gained ground in the championship in Germany, and is on a run of good luck and high spirits, after his race team M1RA dominated the most recent round of the TCR International Series at the Hungaroring, where he also raced and scored pole position.

“After a run of bad luck in Italy and Hungary, I feel like we got ourselves back on-track in Germany with a strong podium finish, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t continue to close in on the championship lead in Portugal,” he said.

“The Honda is perfectly suited to street circuits, as everybody can see from how fast we’ve been on them recently, and I’m confident that we can score a lot of points and continue the battle this weekend.”

Honda will be taking the fight back to Polestar Cyan Racing, with Nicky Catsburg having taken the lead of the drivers’ standings after the main race win in Germany, and with the Swedish manufacturer pulling away in the manufacturers’ championship.

“It’s definitely a good feeling heading to Portugal in the lead, but it also applies some pressure as you really want to remain there,” said Catsburg. “Vila Real is a demanding and very fast street circuit. I think the fight with the Hondas, and especially Tiago (Monteiro), will be very tough. They usually perform well at street circuits and they are 30 kilos lighter. But we have been fast with weight this year and, as always, we will try to score as many points as possible.”

Catsburg points out the latest compensation weight changes, with Honda losing 10kg and will run with just 50kg of ballast onboard, while the leading Volvos and the privateer Citroëns of outside title contenders such as Rob Huff and Tom Chilton are fully ballasted with 80kg.

Entry List

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
8 – Aurélien Panis – FRA – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Münnich Motorsport – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
22 – Manuel Fernandez – POR – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – FRA – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
34 – Ryo Michigami – JPN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
61 – Néstor Girolami – ARG – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
62 – Thed Björk – SWE – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Nicky Catsburg – NED – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yann Ehrlacher – FRA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
86 – Esteban Guerrieri – ARG – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
99 – Daniel Nagy – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC

Timetable

Saturday 24th June
09:30 – Free Practice 1
12:00 – Free Practice 2
15:30 – Qualifying
16:45 – MAC3

Sunday 25th June
16:30 – Opening Race (11 laps)
17:45 – Main Race (13 laps)

All times West European Summer Time (WEST)

Compensation weight

Car – Weight – Ballast
Citroën C-Elysée WTCC – 1,180kg – +80kg
Volvo S60 TC1 – 1,180kg – +80kg
Honda Civic WTCC – 1,150kg – +50kg
Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 – 1,120kg – +20kg
Lada Vesta WTCC – 1,100kg – +0kg