WestCoast Racing took no prisoners in Race 1 at Shanghai, posting a sensational 1-2-3, thanks to the excellent speed of the Honda Civic cars on the long straights of the Chinese circuit.
Gianni Morbidelli added a first TCR win to his long string of successes in international touring cars, leading the race from lights to flag, closely followed by team-mate René Münnich. With this success and the pole position obtained earlier, the Italian is now leading in the Drivers’ standings, by 5 points.
Kevin Gleason came in third, completing the all-Civic podium, but the American had to battle hard to conquer his first TCR podium, swapping positions many times with previous championship leader Stefano Comini, who eventually took fourth and was the first of the SEAT cars. The Gleason vs Comini was not the only exciting duel of the race: Chinese fans could also enjoy close battle for fifth, as Mikhail Grachev’s Audi TT went under attack from Jordi Gené and later, Andrea Belicchi. The Russian, who put on a solid race, managed to keep the Spaniard at bay but was pipped by the Italian in the last corner.
Pepe Oriola had taken a great start and was running second, but was forced to retire at the end of lap 1 after suffering a puncture and body damage following a clash with Münnich.
Race 2 will take place Tomorrow at 10.35 local time (4.35 in Central Europe) and will be streamed live on www.tcr-series.com.
Key moments
Start – Morbidelli sprints from pole position; Oriola jumps to second ahead of Münnich
Lap 1 – Oriola and Münnich make contact; the former slows down and retires
Lap 2 – Comini and Gleason overtake Grachev for third and fourth
Lap 3 – Gleason and Comini swap places twice
Lap 4 – Gené overtakes Tóth for sixth
Lap 6 – Belicchi overtakes Tóth for seventh
Lap 7 – Comini and Gleason continue to swap places; Grachev and Gené collide, Gené loses a couple of positions
Lap 8 – Engstler overtakes Gené for seventh
Lap 9 – Gleason manages to keep Comini at bay for third; Belicchi chases Grachev
Lap 10 – Belicchi passes Grachev for fifth at the last turn
Race 1 – Quotes from the podium finishers
Gianni Morbidelli, winner: “It was simply a perfect day, I must reckon. Everything was perfect and the car performed extremely well. I congratulate WestCoast Racing for the very good work. It is clear that here in Shanghai the Honda cars were above the competition, as it was the case for SEAT in Sepang. We felt at ease since the beginning of free practice and could materialize the good work. We’ll try to carry on the momentum, knowing very well that it will be difficult to always have a day like today.”
René Münnich, second: “It’s nice to be on the podium, I am happy to have been behind Gianni throughout the entire weekend so far. In the race, I could almost follow his pace and in the last couple of laps I even reduced the gap, although I think he lift off a bit.”
Kevin Gleason, third: “I believe Stefano Comini and I put the show today! It was good a good fight, always very close. He was weaving in excess on the straights, but all in all, it was fair. I hope the fans enjoyed it and I think they will need to get used to that sort of show in the TCR! Again, my start was quite poor, I really need to improve that.”
Thirty-second time penalty for Mikhail Grachev
Mikhail Grachev saw his Race 1 efforts vanished by a penalty he was given by the Stewards of the Meeting.
The Russian driver had finished the race in sixth position at the wheel of his Liqui Moly Team Engstler Audi TT, showing the potential of the German car. During the race Grachev was involved in exciting battles with Jordi Gené and Andrea Belicchi; on lap seven him and Gené made contact at the last turn, which cost the Spaniard a couple of positions.
The Stewards deemed Grachev guilty for causing the collision and imposed him a drive-through that resulted in a post-race 30-second time penalty, which dropped him from sixth to 14th.
Bernie Ecclestone enjoys the TCR!
Once again Bernie Ecclestone showed his interest for the TCR International Series.
After visiting the TCR paddock in Sepang, this time the Formula 1 supremo showed up on the grid for today’s Race 1, where was welcomed by TCR promoter Marcello Lotti.
Ecclestone meta delegation of the Macau Grand Prix Committee and then walked through the first rows of the grid, stopping by his old acquaintance and former F1 driver Gianni Morbidelli, whom he wished well.
The greeting proved effective, as Gianni took a superb win!
Morbidelli led Honda 1-2-3 in Shanghai qualifying
The Honda Civic dominated today’s qualifying session at Shanghai, where the WestCoast Racing cars of Gianni Morbidelli, René Münnich and Kevin Gleason posted the three fastest laps in Q2.
Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Mikhail Grachev gave the Audi TT a brilliant fourth position on the grid for Race 1, followed by the best of the SEAT drivers: Pepe Oriola in fifth and Hungarian teenager Norbert Tóth in Sixth.
Andrea Belicchi and Michel Nykjær qualified in tenth and ninth positions respectively, that will grant them the front row in the starting grid for tomorrow’s Race 2.
Craft-Bamboo Lukoil’s Jordi Gené and Sergey Afanasyev were both eliminated after Q1.
Morbidelli said: “I am very happy, everything went beyond expectations. I thought we would be in the mid-2.16 but was not expecting to be seventh faster than that. The car was very well-balanced and I had a lot of grip. I saved the new tyres for today and everything went well.”