There is now a week left for Gabriele Tarquini to return to action in Italy.
It was from the time of the WTCC that the top touring series did not land in the Bel Paese, but with the advent of the FIA WTCR in Adria the ‘Cinghar’ will have the opportunity to be back on home soil.
“It is really fantastic to go back to racing in Italy, in the past it had happened to me many times with the WTCC, but never with the WTCR, so I expect many fans and I will also try to bring as many as possible – said the BRC Hyundai N driver. Lukoil Squadra Corse at a press conference in which Motorsport.com also took part – I feel a certain pressure and responsibility because I will be practically the only Italian in the championship in action. “
This year Hyundai brought the new Elantra N TCR to the World Championship, as always developed by the Abruzzese himself during last year, which resulted in the car being as strong as the i30 N TCR had been previously.
“My season probably didn’t start in the best way, or at least not as I expected. The car was very competitive right from the first race at the Nordschleife, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to score many points, especially because of the mistake. that I committed in Germany, in addition to the problems with a tire accused in Estoril “.
“But our colleague Vernay is second in the championship now and the goal will be to try to help him so that he can get to the title, as has already happened in the past with a team effort that has proved very important for Hyundai. Jean-Karl he is very close to the top and by working well we can put him in a position to fight for the championship. “
“The biggest thanks, however, goes to Hyundai, which gave us a truly fantastic car, despite the fact that in recent events it was loaded with a lot of ballast and weakened. Despite everything, we were competitive and even in Pau-Arnos it surprised me because I didn’t expect it. to have such an excellent pace “.
“Fortunately, the Elantra N also seems to adapt well to new tracks, as happened in Most and Pau-Arnos, where we had never been to test, so we hope to be competitive in Adria too. The new car has more downforce and top speed. compared to the i30 N. The Venetian track is not exactly very fast, but we hope to be able to fight against the others, giving a show to those who will follow us on site and on TV, which is the spirit of tourism racing “.
Gabriele Tarquini, BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR
Photo by: WTCR
And speaking of new circuits: at the age of 59 Tarquini incredibly managed to find a calendar with three tracks never seen before, which not only entailed the difficulties of the case, but also aroused curiosity.
“In fact it was strange, a surprise to see that there are still tracks that I don’t know! I had already tackled Adria, so for good or bad I know how it is, but Most, Pau-Arnos and Sochi are new. which surprised me, in France I have to say that the track is exceptional, I adapted immediately at the beginning “.
“In the Czech Republic I struggled more because I made a mistake in Qualifying, being eliminated in Q1. A sort of disaster because on this kind of circuits you have to stay in the Top 10 to be able to have a positive weekend for you and the team, but stay out of the way. 12 it becomes really hard to score points and be able to help teammates “.
“In general, I adapted quickly, it was a good discovery. Let’s hope Adria brings me luck, because that’s where I raced in the TCR European final in 2017 with the new Hyundai i30 N. We went well right away, then it’s true that the track has changed dramatically since then.
“At the beginning of the year we tried there, but the track has changed a bit, there is new asphalt and some different curbs. I think that as we had to do in the last two exits, it will be very important to understand everything in the first Free Practice. we will concentrate on Qualification and the work will be based above all on them “.
“Usually in the two Free Practice, one is used for the Qualifying and the other for the race simulation. Here we will have to improvise in the race, even if we will not have the perfect set-up, maybe we can try to keep the position, even if we are not too fast. “.
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