News Report

Wuhan awaits Honda Civic Type R TCR racers

4 Oct 2018

WTCR Race of China – Wuhan

Wuhan Street Circuit, China

WTCR 2018, Round 8

The Honda Civic Type R TCR completes the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup’s Chinese double-header with a visit to the Wuhan Street Circuit this weekend an all five drivers aiming for a strong haul of points.

A double-podium at Ningbo last weekend elevated Esteban Guerrieri to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship and consolidated ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport’s third place in the Teams’ title race.

With five podiums now to his name in 2018, including a victory at the fabled Nurburgring, the Argentinian is aiming high on what is the first visit to the new Wuhan layout for all of the WTCR drivers.

Team-mate Yann Ehrlacher has scored points in five of the six races held on street circuits this year and the Frenchman is aiming to bounce back after his strong pace at Ningbo was not rewarded with representative results.

Timo Scheider, who made his front-wheel-drive debut with Münnich at Ningbo and twice just missed out on points, will benefit from his rivals’ lack of familiarity with the three-kilometre circuit as he aims to get his first score on the board.

For a second event in a row, Boutsen Ginion Racing will field Chinese driver Ma Qinghua alongside team regular Tom Coronel.

Ma starred in Ningbo qualifying on what was his first appearance at the wheel of the Civic Type R TCR, despite having never driven the circuit before.

With the Wuhan street track having been amended this year, nobody in the WTCR field has any experience on which to build of the layout, which winds itself around the city’s major sports stadium. Ma believes this level playing field will help his preparations.

Team-mate Tom Coronel finished all three races in Ningbo; making up significant ground from his grid spot on each occasion. A winner in the WTCC on the street tracks in Marrakech and Vila Real since 2016, he is also set to perform strongly.

2018 WTCR Race of China - Ningbo

Honda Pro Racing / David Noels

Esteban Guerrieri ⁸⁶

“My first win in the WTCC last year was on a street track in Morocco and I also had a second-place last time we were on a city track in Vila Real. Plus, the way we worked to make the Honda faster and faster through the weekend at Ningbo gives me a lot of confidence. Where you start will be very important, but only one driver has a better qualifying record than me this year, so I’m optimistic we can have a good weekend and continue to climb the championship.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Yann Ehrlacher ⁶⁸

“One of the great things about WTCR is that we keep coming to new places that you might never visit without a race, so I’m excited to see what the weekend brings in Wuhan. I’ve seen on-board cameras from the Chinese Touring Cars last year and the circuit looks narrow even compared to other street circuits, so qualifying will be critical. We need to improve our qualifying performances to get them back to where they were earlier in the year, but I’m sure we can do this and that the Honda will be a good package for this weekend.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Timo Scheider ⁴²

“These first few events are about learning and my debut at Ningbo went pretty well as I missed out on points by a small margin twice. While l don’t have the experience of front-wheel-drive racing that many of the other drivers do, none of us have been to this Wuhan layout, so we start from a level playing field. I've raced on Chinese street circuits twice in Shanghai and I enjoy the challenge because there's so little room for error. The target is to finish in the points for the first time in WTCR.”

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Qing Hua Ma ⁵⁵

“There’s been hardly any time to reflect on Ningbo, and already we’re heavily into preparations for Wuhan. I really wanted to score points last weekend and the speed of the Honda makes me confident that this would have been possible if we hadn’t had an issue in qualifying. I lack experience of TCR racing and of Ningbo, so coming to Wuhan – a track that nobody has raced on before – means everyone starts from the same place, and that’s a big help. If we can replicate the speed from Ningbo then I think points are a good and achievable target for my second home event.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing

Tom Coronel ⁹

“I’m really looking forward to Wuhan. It’s a street circuit and I love street circuits; both for the fact that you’re right in the heart of an urban area and bringing motorsport to passionate fans and to some people who maybe haven’t experienced it before, and because the challenge is huge. With the walls so close, you have to be incredibly precise and drive a little bit within yourself, but you also have to push because WTCR is such a close championship. My last two wins in World Touring Cars have been on street tracks in Morocco and Portugal, so if we can get the car into a position where I have the confidence to push hard, I think I can have a good set of results.”

Boutsen Ginion Racing