Gianni Morbidelli targeting strong finish to 2017 after tough Thailand

WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli is hoping for a good finish to the 2017 season, after a difficult weekend in Thailand, a race which was a stark contract to his career highlight weekend two months’ earlier in Germany.

At Oschersleben, Morbidelli romped to pole position and victory in Race 1 in the team’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, following this up with another victory in a chaotic Race 2 despite a top ten reversed grid.

At last weekend’s race at the Buriram International Circuit, the Italian qualified 11th and finished tenth in Race 1, and 13th in Race , scoring just one point during the weekend.

“We didn’t expect to be as competitive as we were in Oschersleben for many reasons,” said Morbidelli to TouringCarTimes. “First, as everyone knows, that track was much better for the Volkswagen, and second of all I had the weight there, the 30kg of success ballast made a big difference.

“Unfortunately I didn’t have a good qualifying, which can also make a big difference as if you have a chance to start from the front, at least you can defend the position. You never know what can happen when you start first instead of 11th.”

With two races left to go, with the team still to confirm a replacement for Giacomo Altoѐ, whose seat was filled-in for by Kantadhee Kusiri in Thailand, the Italian hopes the Swedish team can end the season on a positive note.

“We’d like to finish the season as best a way as possible,” he said. “I don’t think we can have a weekend as great as we had in Oschersleben, but we want to be able to fight for for the front positions.”