Photo: TCR Series

Sami Taoufik: “Tyre management is key here”

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Sébastien Loeb Racing’s Sami Taoufik scored his best qualifying result of the season at Barcelona and believes that, with proper tyre management, a good result in Race 1 is possible.

Taoufik, driving a Hyundai Elantra N TCR, was second fastest, just 0.044 seconds behind Volcano Motorsport’s Mikel Azcona.

“I’m very pleased with the car here and the work the team has done, it has been fantastic and we’ve been very competitive,” the Moroccan told TouringCarTimes.

“For me, it’s a pleasure and an honour to race and be competitive, always trying to be better and taking the Moroccan flag to the top.”

The Sébastien Loeb Racing driver will start right behind Azcona, who just needs to score points to clinch the 2021 TCR Europe title.

“I’m a competitive racing driver and my target is always to finish as high as possible, so I won’t give up on a victory here,” said Taoufik.

“Tyre management is very important here and I’m still learning it, so I’ll try to keep my tyres optimum to try something even on the last lap if necessary.”