Lada claims first points in Drivers’ Championship

On just the second round of its exciting 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship campaign, the LADA Sport Lukoil team has scored its first points in the drivers’ championship and increased its score in the manufacturers’ standings. British driver James Thompson finished 10th in the opening race at Marrakech in Morocco, scoring one drivers’ championship point. In the manufacturers’ championship LADA Sport scooped up a total of 64 points from qualifying and the two races – ahead of experienced and respected opposition such as Honda, which brought home a total of 51 points from Morocco.

In the second race, former British Touring Car Champion Thompson started from 11th on the grid and was setting a brilliant pace, but on the second lap he was hit by Campos Racing driver Fernando Monje in an aggressive move that attracted the attention of the race stewards. For causing the accident – which led to the retirement of himself and James – Monje was punished with a five-place grid penalty at the next race in Slovakia.

The Moroccan weekend had a happier outcome for LADA’s new driver, Mikhail Kozlovskiy. In the first race he finished 16th, having started from 22nd on the grid with no real experience of the car or the circuit. Underlining his constant improvement, the Russian was 13th in the second race held at the fast and narrow street circuit.

James reflected afterwards on the incident that had ruined his race. “It’s a pity,” he said. “Fernando actually hit me several times in both races and there is absolutely no need for things like that. In the second race he deliberately hit me from the back, and there’s no justification for driving in that way, as he wasn’t trying to overtake me at the time. It’s not only unprofessional but it’s also dangerous for himself and everyone else around him. You can’t play with these cars: it’s a dangerous sport, so it’s great that the stewards have taken action and he realizes this sooner rather than later. But there were lots of positives about this weekend as well. The speed of the LADA Granta has been consistently good all weekend: I was right in the slipstream behind Tom Coronel and it’s clear that our car has got great potential. Unfortunately we didn’t get the chance to fight for the result that I knew was possible. We were in the top 10 in the first race, taking a point, and I think we would have done even better in the second race.”

Mikhail Kozlovskiy commented on his debut. “I can’t actually say the race was too hard for me,” he added. “The only thing that was a little bit tough to cope with was the hot weather and the very short break between the two races. I had a few problems at the start, but I managed to overtake one of the BMWs and I aimed just to stay out of trouble. It’s a narrow circuit and hard to pass on but I did my best to capitalise on the mistakes of other people. In the last couple of laps of the second race, I was actually posting better lap times than I did in qualifying, which underlines the progress we have made. Of course I can’t be completely satisfied with 13th place but this was my very first weekend in the FIA WTCC with no testing, so all things considered it isn’t too bad. Now I’m hoping I can build on this progress at the next round in Slovakia.”

Team principal Victor Shapovalov concluded: “This was definitely a weekend of mixed fortunes. On the one hand, we finished the first race in the top 10 and scored our first point in the drivers’ championship. We also shouldn’t underestimate what Mikhail achieved on his debut at such a tricky circuit. But we’re naturally very disappointed by the incident that James fell victim to. These driving standards are not suitable for a global championship at this level, and we’re pleased that the stewards agree with us on this point. Now we will draw a line under the incident and concentrate on preparing for the next round in Slovakia.”

The next race takes place at the Slovakia Ring from 27-28 April.