Esteban Guerrieri: “A weekend to forget”

Esteban Guerrieri saw his FIA TCR World Tour title hopes disappear in the penultimate round at Zhuzhou after another troublesome weekend for the GOAT Racing Honda driver.

“A complicated weekend to forget where we lost our chances for the championship,” said Guerrieri.

The Argentinian driver headed into the race weekend on 30 kilos of compensation weight, trailing points leader Yann Ehrlacher by 45 points.

But a tough qualifying session where Guerrieri could only manage eighth place set the scene for further difficulties in the three races.

Guerrieri kept eighth place in the first race and then gambled on pitting for wets in the second race, only to retire on the ninth lap due to a technical issue.

The third and final race saw the Honda driver driving a quiet race to finish 12th.

“I started third in Race 2, so there were good possibilities, but I didn’t have a good first lap,” said Guerrieri.

“The rain was increasing and all were on slicks, so there was no other solution but to change tyres. But, surprisingly, we weren’t faster and in the end, I broke the gearbox.

“Then in Race 3, I started P12 but could not progress.”

Guerrieri will head to the Macau season finale without a shot at the title in third place overall, trailing points leader Ehrlacher by 101 points with 75 left to fight for.

“I’m looking forward to Macau to just have a good end of the season and bring home something good to the team,” said Guerrieri.