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M1RA drivers “not giving up” on championship despite tough weekend in China

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M1RA drivers Roberto Colciago and Attila Tassi head to the final round of the 2017 TCR International Series still in contention for the title, with Tassi 21 points behind Team WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay, and Roberto Colciago 46 behind, both saying that anything can happen at the finale.

Tassi looked set for a good result in Race 1 at Zhejiang after getting his fast-starting Honda up to third at Turn 1, but he was then hit by Craft-Bamboo’s Dan Lloyd, who’s SEAT suffered race-ending damage as a result.

The 18-year-old Hungarian rejoined far down the order and picked up a solitary point in Race 1, while team-mate Colciago faired slightly better, finishing in seventh overall.

In the second race, the two Hondas finished eighth and ninth, with Colciago ahead of Tassi, with Tassi recovering from a drive-through penalty after a jump start.

“I’m keeping it alive, but this weekend was really hard for us,” Colciago told TouringCarTimes. “We didn’t have the pace to keep up with the Golf, and I think everybody has said the same thing. I don’t know if it’s just the track, or if they’ve made an improvement, but they were really fast, but all we could do was try to take some points.”

Thinking of the championship, where Colciago needs a near-perfect weekend in Dubai next month with Vernay suffering a disaster, he added:

“I think for me it’s almost over, but never say never. Look at last year with Stefano Comini and James Nash, Comini was over 30 points behind and still won the championship.”

Tassi was left to rue what could have been after a great start in Race 1 meant a good points finish was possible.

“In the first race, I had a good start and was up to Vernay in third, and then at the exit of Turn 1 I had a big impact at the rear and after that my steering wasn’t straight,” Tassi said to TouringCarTimes. “After that, I was just doing my best to keep going, and only got one point only because the Hyundais don’t count.

“In the second race, I just tried to do the same as Race 1, but I just released the handbrake just a little bit and it moved the car, so after that my race was destroyed after a drive-through. We’re 21 points behind JK, so it’s going to be difficult, but anything can happen as we saw today.”