Esteban Guerrieri says he “could not have got any more out of the car”

Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri endured a tough FIA WTCR qualifying at MotorLand Aragón to finish in 16th position, with the Argentinian saying there was nothing more to be squeezed out of his Civic Type-R TCR.

“In terms of our performance, we absolutely struck the maximum and could not have got any more out of the car, so I’m pleased on that front as we always expected a tough session,” said Guerrieri.

The Hondas run 70kg heavier at Aragón compared to the previous round at Estoril due to the changed BoP and compensation weight.

But Guerrieri says he did not expect the difference to be this big.

“What’s a little bit strange is there’s something a little bit funny with the physics; the exchange rate between kilograms and seconds has suddenly increased dramatically here,” said Guerrieri.

“For tomorrow, we are at least within touching distance of the points so will try to gather what we can in the circumstances.”

Guerrieri’s team-mate Néstor Girolami qualified 20th, but will start 21st due to a grid penalty from the previous round.

Tiago Monteiro qualified 21st and last, while Attila Tassi, who is placed second overall, had a nightmare qualifying session, bringing the red flags out due to a broken fuel pump.

“We knew that we would struggle this weekend with the 70kg extra weight compared to Estoril, but unfortunately I didn’t even get the chance to set a time in qualifying,” said Tassi.

“When I started my first fast lap, midway through I had a problem, which turned out to be the connector to the fuel pump breaking, and that was my session over. Tomorrow will be a tough day starting both races at the back but let’s see what we can achieve.”