Girolami: “We will do whatever it takes to win this championship”

Néstor Girolami says he and Münnich Motorsport will do everything in their power in the intensifying battle for WTCR title glory, having upstaged their rivals in Race 1 at the MotorLand Aragón finale.

The Münnich Motorsport-run Hondas performed an unlikely turnaround to win in mixed conditions on Sunday morning, with Girolami and Esteban Guerrieri storming through the field from mediocre grid slots on a damp track.

With Girolami no longer in title contention, and Guerrieri sitting second in the standings to Lynk & Co’s Yann Ehrlacher, team orders were unsurprisingly deployed to swap Guerrieri into the lead on the final lap of the race – a move for which Guerrieri was quick to thank Girolami in the post-race interviews.

Girolami, meanwhile, showed no signs of disapproval despite giving up victory, indeed making it clear that Guerrieri could continue to rely on unabated support from both himself and fellow team-mates Attila Tassi and Tiago Monteiro in the final two races of the campaign.

“We said this morning that everything can happen and you saw [what happened] in the first race,” said Girolami. “The last race here, Ehrlacher had a turbo problem, so you never know. We have to fight until the end. Esteban has all the support from all four drivers so we will do whatever it takes to win this championship.”

The Honda Civic Type R TCRs have struggled for pace in the dry so far this weekend, but came alive with an inspired tyre strategy in the damp in Race 1.

With no further rain expected at MotorLand Aragón for the remaining two races of the day, however, Münnich Motorsport is up for a difficult task if they are to ultimately overtake Ehrlacher in the drivers’ standings and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the teams’ championship.

With 50 points still up for grabs, Guerrieri currently trails Ehrlacher by 16, but will start both remaining races from 18th – far behind Ehrlacher.

Münnich Motorsport, meanwhile, need to make up 36 points on Cyan Racing Lynk & Co – and Girolami agreed that would be a tall order.

“We know that in similar conditions we don’t have the pace; yesterday we were 1.3-1.5 seconds behind so they are really strong in the dry,” said Girolami. “But I think our car is really strong in the damp. We have a good combo when it’s damp, but then when it’s dry we lose a lot of power on the straights – uphill is the worst part for us.

“Race 2 and Race 3 will be difficult, but we’ll try.”