Race preview: WTCC drivers go thrill-seeking in Slovakia

One of the fastest corners of the season awaits the FIA World Touring Car Championship drivers in Slovakia when the battle for WTCC glory resumes next week (15-17 April).

Turn 2 at Automotodróm Slovakia Ring is taken in sixth gear at approximately 215kph and provides an adrenalin-fuelled test for the WTCC drivers and their TC1 World Touring Cars.

But, as 2009 WTCC champion Gabriele Tarquini explains, it’s not just the high-speed nature of the corner that sets the pulses racing. “Because you cannot see the exit you must trust yourself to be flat,” says Tarquini. “Then after the corner you have a small jump before being hard on the brakes for Turn 3. It’s very exciting.”

LADA driver Tarquini is a two-time winner at the Slovakia Ring and rates the 5.922-kilometre layout as one of his favourites. And he has an opportunity to add to his tally of two wins with his Vesta free of the 80 kilograms of success ballast being carried by the Citroën C-Elysée WTCCs, including the one driven by defending world champion José María López.

While the Argentine’s victory in the Main Race in France in early April hands him a four-point title lead, he expects a big fight to remain competitive at the longer and more technical Slovakia Ring before the compensation weight is reviewed for the third weekend of the season in Hungary.

The trio of factory Honda Civic WTCCs also currently run without success ballast under new rules for 2016 and Rob Huff, Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro are all potential podium visitors having claimed top-three finishes in France with Huff winning the Opening Race. LADA’s Nicky Catsburg is one of the WTCC’s fastest drivers over a single lap, while Polestar duo Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom will be racing at the Slovakia Ring for the first time. Elsewhere, Medhi Bennani was a double WTCC Trophy winner last time out for Sébastien Loeb Racing, while Hugo Valente started the reverse-grid Opening Race on the DHL-presented pole position on his first WTCC event as a factory driver.

WTCC MAC3 proves a big hit

Motorsport history was made in the FIA World Touring Car Championship in France when Citroën won the inaugural WTCC MAC3 competition, the team trial inspired by professional cycling events such as the Tour de France. In a dramatic finish, the Citroën team of Mehdi Bennani, José María López and Yvan Muller edged LADA (Nicky Catsburg, Gabriele Tarquini and Hugo Valente) by 0.030s after two flying laps of the 3.841-kilometre Circuit Paul Ricard. Honda was forced to settle for third after a slow start from Rob Huff meant it took the Japanese make 2.453s longer than Citroën to get its three cars over the line with Nobert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro also in action for the team. Citroën scored 10 points toward its FIA WTCC Manufacturers’ Championship total, LADA eight and Honda six.

How it works:

Citroën, Honda and LADA (Polestar will participate when it enters a third car) will nominate three drivers to take part in WTCC MAC3, which follows Qualifying Q3, once all cars have been refuelled and fitted with a new set of tyres. As soon as a team’s three cars vacate the grid side by side, the clock starts and then stops once the last car completes two flying laps (one lap at the Nürburgring Nordschleife). Failure to get all three cars over the line – or if the second or third car doesn’t finish within a maximum of 15 seconds after the first car – means no points.

A lap of the WTCC track with Gabriele Tarquini

With two wins from seven starts and the circuit lap record, Gabriele Tarquini is a Slovakia Ring expert. This is the LADA Sport Rosneft driver’s guide to a rapid lap of the 5.922-kilometre track, the second longest circuit in use in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

“Turn 1 seems very tight but it’s very wide on the exit and you can use the kerbs and more in third gear. Then you pass through fourth, fifth and sixth gears before the fastest corner, Turn 2. This is one of the fastest corners in the WTCC at around 215kph, it’s very exciting and it’s very close to be flat. Because you cannot see the exit you must trust yourself that you can be flat. You can use the very wide exit without any problem and after you have this small jump before being hard on the brakes. Usually you have lost the weight on the front and immediately after this jump you must brake and come back to third gear for a very late apex corner. You can be a little bit long on the entry and come back later on the apex to prepare for Turn 4.

“Like Turn 4, T5 is also a flat corner. Turn 6 is a very challenging braking point because you can be very deep on the braking but you have a lot of turn-in oversteer and it’s not very easy to find the braking point. For me it’s the easiest corner to make a mistake under braking. But it’s also a good possibility to overtake during the race because of the different line. Turn 6, like Turn 3, is a very late apex to prepare for Turn 7. It’s an easy-flat corner if you exit very good Turn 6. After you have the very slow part of the track. Turn 8 is normally third gear with a lot of power understeer coming out. After you put fourth, shifting a little bit earlier on Turn 9 to be very close to flat but it’s not completely flat and in the race you must save the tyres because normally if you are forcing the front tyres you can destroy the front-right.

“Approaching Turn 10 can be an overtaking opportunity. It’s the slowest one and you need to short shift because it’s very difficult for front-wheel traction. After Turn 11 you pass third, you short shift in fourth, fifth before the corner number 12. After you put again sixth gear and for the last corner this is a very difficult corner with a difficult braking point because normally you can brake very deeply. It has a very late apex so you can be very deep on the braking in fourth gear. It’s exciting because you fight with the steering wheel in the middle of the corner and then you are flat out for the finish line.”

Gabriele Tarquini’s perfect passing place: “T1, T6 and T10 are the best places to overtake.”

Drivers look ahead to WTCC Race of Slovakia

Fredrik Ekblom (Polestar): “The track looks fantastic and from what we saw in France we can be quite good on the medium and high-speed corners. Because we have no simulator at this stage I have looked at videos on YouTube [to learn the track] and we will also have a meeting with the team where we will discuss all the different scenarios. We have only done two days of set-up testing this year so we are still learning a lot but, hopefully, improving.”

Rob Huff (Honda): “This is probably one of the most technical tracks we go to, it’s a long lap and a very bumpy track due to the settlement of the land where the track is built. This makes the braking zones very tricky but it’s a fantastic, flowing track and you can really get into a good rhythm. You know you’ve done a good job when you get every corner right, which is challenging as a driver. With the bumps it’s quite easy to make a mistake when you’re pushing on the limit.”

José María López (Citroën): “Slovakia’s going to be really interesting. Honda have been competitive there so it’s going to be really tough. We know the competition is going to be strong but we have also pushed hard, we are not sleeping on our laurels and we’re still competitive. It was a bit of a surprise qualifying on pole in France but with new tyres you can hold a little bit more the car, the extra grip is there so you can manage it. But in the race when the grip is going away it’s a bit more difficult with 80 kilograms.”

Gabriele Tarquini (LADA): “It’s one of the most exciting tracks in the WTCC. It’s very nice, very difficult, very long, very easy to make a mistake but one of my favourite tracks. I won twice in the past and I’m hoping to do a good performance again this year. You need to have the perfect car and if your car is working well at Slovakia Ring then it’s a good car. The set-up is a compromise of everything because you have a very fast corner, changes of direction, traction is very important out of T10 and aerodynamic balance is also very important.”

Tom Coronel (WTCC Trophy): “We have to work on the set-up for the full race distance. We have to improve the tyre management to be able to fight to the max towards the end, too. We had a good weekend in France with a second and a third in the privateers’ classification but there is absolutely more in store.”