Esteban Guerrieri rues late understeer in Vallelunga qualifying

Esteban Guerrieri finished qualifying in third position with his GOAT Racing-prepared Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR and the Argentinian driver initially looked set for a shot at pole position until Norbert Michelisz stormed ahead to hand BRC Hyundai pole.

“We checked with my engineer, the track temperature rose from 23 degrees to 33, so I ended up having some unexpected understeer,” said Guerrieri to TouringCarTimes.

“We should have worked a little bit with the tyre pressures and used a different strategy with the rear, but in the end I could have improved a couple of tenths. At the end of the day, though, you have to put the lap together and Norbi probably managed a great lap. In those moments in qualifying, if you lose two hundredths per corner it’s very easy to end up a couple of tenths behind your opponent. It’s all about fine margins.”

With the first race of the weekend set to be wet, Guerrieri hopes to have a consistent car that will allow him to attack.

“I’m sure we will have a visibility issue, but there will be more chances to make more moves and fight a little more. Having a consistent car in the wet would be very important to keep our position or perhaps move forward.”

The Honda driver believes he will need to find a balance between the desire to move up the order and the need to score points to get the season going.

“It’s very important to not score a zero. I hope we will be able to go forward, but in the end it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen. My goal is always to do an aggressive race, but at the same time it’s important to score points.”