Race Report

Guerrieri fourth at Honda’s home circuit

27 Oct 2018

WTCR Race of Japan

Suzuka Circuit, Japan

WTCR 2018, Round 9

Esteban Guerrieri scored a strong fourth-place finish in the first of three races in the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup at Honda’s home circuit, Suzuka, Japan.

The ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport driver started sixth in his Honda Civic Type R TCR, but launched himself up to fourth as the lights went out at the start and held on to finish the 11-lap race there too.

It was the eighth time this season in which the Argentinian has finished in the top five and moved him up to fifth in the Drivers’ Championship with five races – including Sunday’s double-header – to go.

Team-mate Timo Scheider climbed from 24th on the grid to 19th by the finish of a race that was twice interrupted by the safety car; the German pulling off several impressive passing moves on what is only his third weekend racing front-wheel-drive machinery.

Yann Ehrlacher endured a luckless race. Having been shoved into the gravel by another car – which had cut the chicane at the end of the opening lap – he suffered contact from two further rivals; the second incident putting him into the gravel at 130R and out of the race.

Twenty-four hours after he was warmly welcomed back onto the WTCR grid following 14 months recovering from injury, Tiago Monteiro ended his first race in the series in 15th place; two spots higher than where he started.

His Boutsen Ginion Racing team-mate Tom Coronel, the most popular WTCR driver in Japan following five years racing in Formula Nippon and Super GT, also made significant progress. Having started 21st, he finished 17th.

The Suzuka weekend concludes with a pair of races on Sunday.

2018 WTCR Race of Japan

Honda Pro Racing / David Noels

Esteban Guerrieri ⁸⁶

“After starting sixth, I’m pleased to finish forth. I took new tyres for this race because my grid position was better than for either of the races tomorrow, and it paid off because I was able to make up some positions on the first lap. From there it was a case of keeping my nose clean and waiting for something to happen in front of me. It didn’t and I wasn’t able to make up any more places. I think also we misjudged the tyre pressures slightly, so I wasn’t able to extract maximum performance from the car. It will be tougher tomorrow, so I think we maximised the potential today.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Timo Scheider ⁴²

“I had a clean race, which is a nice change compared to the Chinese events. I went from 25th on the first lap to 19th at the finish, which was three overtakes on-track and a couple of cars going off or having penalties. The way the BoP is at the moment, it’s not easy for us on straightline speed, so you have to make up all your time in the corners because of what you lose on the straights, and that makes this circuit tough on tyres. It’s a solid result though and I’ve continued to learn front-wheel-drive racing. I’m starting higher up tomorrow, so let’s see what happens.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Yann Ehrlacher ⁶⁸

“That was a hugely frustrating race. I started on old tyres so I could keep my new rubber for my second-row start tomorrow, and lost a place on the first lap. Then [Frederic] Vervisch cut the chicane completely and pushed me straight off into the gravel on the exit. It’s not the first time he’s done that kind of thing and it cost me more time and damaged my tyres. Then I lost six places with contact from another car and eventually my race ended after the first safety-car period when I had more contact from behind. If we can improve the set-up for tomorrow, we can do well from fourth on the grid.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Tiago Monteiro ¹⁸

“It’s 468 days since I did my last race in the WTCC in Argentina last year, but when I was on the warm-up lap heating my tyres, I swear it felt like only two weeks ago. It was the same when the race started. Everything just felt extremely normal and natural, and on reflection, that’s a very strong feeling. It was a fun race. I had some battles, made up some positions and finished ahead of where I started. Tomorrow I start both races further up than today and we’ve done some good work to improve the car since the first session since yesterday, so I know I’m going to have more fun.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing

Tom Coronel ⁹

“I had a pretty reasonable race and the pace was especially good for the first half of the race. I had a front-row seat when Yann Ehrlacher and Gordon Shedden made contact and I was able to take advantage. I had a great battle with Shedden over the last couple of laps and eventually overtook him to finish 17th – ahead of the guy who won the race two weeks ago. I think today proves that we need to improve our performances in qualifying, because it’s clear we can run a faster race pace than many of the cars we started behind.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing

Dominik Greiner

Team Manager

“Esteban had a very good finish in fourth place, which moves him up to fifth in the championship – his highest position for quite a while – and the race pace for Timo today was also quite encouraging. It’s a shame for Yann that he had some pretty terrible luck. There is definitely some pace to find with set-up adjustments for tomorrow’s races, and we’ll aim to finish as high as we possibly can with all three cars.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Olivia Boutsen

Team Manager

“It’s been such a strong comeback for Tiago today in what is a championship that is becoming more closely-fought every time we come to a new weekend. Of course he knows the team and the car and he’s happy with both, but having him back as a driver has spread a lot of good energy in the garage and I think that’s been good for all of us. The pace shown by Tom was also a positive today and both drivers were able to move forwards and finish without even a scratch on their cars. To see how Tom is absolutely beloved here is very nice and. He’s fantastic with his fans and I think we’re maybe the most popular team here because of it.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing

27 Oct 2018

WTCR Race of Japan

Suzuka Circuit, Japan

WTCR 2018, Round 9

Saturday 27 Oct 2018, 07:00 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	27	25	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	11 laps
2	Aurelien Comte	7	AND	20	20	DG Sport Competition	Peugeot	+0.728
3	Yvan Muller	48	FRA	17	16	YMR	Hyundai	+1.319
4	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	14	13	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+1.759
5	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	12	11	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+2.157
6	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	10	10	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+3.609
7	Mato Homola	70	SLK	8	9	DG Sport Competition	Peugeot	+4.248
8	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	6	8	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+4.583
9	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	4	7	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+5.409
10	Pepe Oriola	74	SPA	2	6	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	Cupra	+5.634
11	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	0	5	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+6.006
12	Nathanael Berthon	23	FRA	0	4	Comtoyou Racing	Audi	+6.415
13	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	0	3	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+6.807
14	Luigi Ferrara	16	ITA	0	2	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+7.178
15	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	1	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda	+7.816
16	Denis Dupont	20	BEL	0	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+8.513
17	Tom Coronel	9	NDL	0	0	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda	+10.108
18	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+10.723
19	Timo Scheider	42	GER	0	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+12.858
20	John Filippi	27	FRA	0	0	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	Cupra	+14.083
21	Zsolt Szabo	66	HUN	0	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+18.297
22	Norbert Nagy	8	HUN	0	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+33.515
23	Rob Huff	12	GBR	0	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+4 laps
24	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	0	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+DNF
25	Thed Björk	11	SWE	0	0	YMR	Hyundai	+DNF

Friday 26 Oct 2018, 08:31 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Total	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	5	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	2:10.742
2	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	4	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+2:11.441
3	Aurelien Comte	7	AND	3	DG Sport Competition	Peugeot	+2:11.635
4	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	2	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2:11.746
5	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	1	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+2:13.608
6	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	0	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+2:11.853
7	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	0	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+2:11.855
8	Denis Dupont	20	BEL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:11.886
9	Rob Huff	12	GBR	0	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+2:11.981
10	Pepe Oriola	74	SPA	0	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	Cupra	+2:12.001
11	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2:12.001
12	Yvan Muller	48	FRA	0	YMR	Hyundai	+No time
13	Thed Björk	11	SWE	0	YMR	Hyundai	+2:12.302
14	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	0	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:12.326
15	Mato Homola	70	SLK	0	DG Sport Competition	Peugeot	+2:12.365
16	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	0	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda	+2:12.454
17	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:12.555
18	Timo Scheider	42	GER	0	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2:12.614
19	Nathanael Berthon	23	FRA	0	Comtoyou Racing	Audi	+2:12.664
20	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	0	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:12.702
21	Luigi Ferrara	16	ITA	0	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+2:12.792
22	John Filippi	27	FRA	0	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	Cupra	+2:13.084
23	Tom Coronel	9	NDL	0	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda	+2:13.151
24	Norbert Nagy	8	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+2:13.270
25	Zsolt Szabo	66	HUN	0	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+2:15.297

Friday 26 Oct 2018, 05:45 Europe/London

#	Driver	Num	Nationality Nat.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Aurelien Comte	7	AND	DG Sport Competition	Peugeot	2:11.536
2	Kevin Ceccon	31	ITA	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+2:11.643
3	Esteban Guerrieri	86	ARG	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2:11.708
4	Yann Ehrlacher	68	FRA	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2:11.872
5	Gabriele Tarquini	1	ITA	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+2:12.109
6	Yvan Muller	48	FRA	YMR	Hyundai	+2:12.114
7	Mehdi Bennani	25	MAR	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+2:12.168
8	Norbert Michelisz	5	HUN	BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse	Hyundai	+2:12.258
9	Jean-Karl Vernay	69	FRA	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:12.312
10	Mato Homola	70	SLK	DG Sport Competition	Peugeot	+2:12.318
11	Frederic Vervisch	22	BEL	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:12.342
12	Pepe Oriola	74	SPA	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	Cupra	+2:12.455
13	Aurélien Panis	21	FRA	Comtoyou DHL Team Cupra Racing	Audi	+2:12.492
14	Nathanael Berthon	23	FRA	Comtoyou Racing	Audi	+2:12.504
15	Rob Huff	12	GBR	Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	+2:12.553
16	Luigi Ferrara	16	ITA	Mulsanne Srl	Alfa Romeo	+2:12.742
17	Thed Björk	11	SWE	YMR	Hyundai	+2:12.764
18	Timo Scheider	42	GER	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda	+2:12.876
19	John Filippi	27	FRA	Team OSCARO by Campos Racing	Cupra	+2:12.877
20	Tiago Monteiro	18	POR	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda	+2:13.020
21	Denis Dupont	20	BEL	Comtoyou Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:13.033
22	Gordon Shedden	52	GBR	Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport	Audi	+2:13.071
23	Tom Coronel	9	NDL	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda	+2:13.616
24	Zsolt Szabo	66	HUN	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+2:14.211
25	Norbert Nagy	8	HUN	Zengo Motorsport	Cupra	+2:14.936