Guerrieri grabs wet win
ONE SUBJECT DOMINATED THE build-up to the World Touring Car Championship’s overdue return after a three-month break. It was the absence of pre-event championship leader Tiago Monteiro, who was forced out of the inaugural round at China’s Ningbo circuit on medical grounds as he continues to recuperate after a high-speed testing crash at Barcelona last month.
Monteiro’s points advantage over Volvo’s Thed Bjork was hardly unassailable at 12 points pre-weekend, so the expectation – the inevitability – was that the Honda driver would forfeit his lead. But while that did indeed eventuate, even with the wildest of rain dances Monteiro could not have hoped for such little damage to be done to his hopes.
On a weekend of Argentinian rule, administered by Esteban Guerrieri and Nestor Girolami (with a little help from the weather), a Bjork no-score in race one was just what the doctor ordered for Monteiro. Bjork started the reversed-grid race eighth but, after three laps were completed behind the safety car, forfeited a place to Norbert Michelisz – the main focus of Honda’s efforts in his teammate’s absence – and later came to blows with Mehdi Bennani, forcing both to pit.
In truth, though, that was a footnote in the opening race, for Guerrieri’s drive in a sea of spray stood out. Visibly one of the more aggressive drivers in slippery conditions, he opportunistically got the better of Nicky Catsburg after the Dutchman was baulked by John Filippi, before clearing the Corsican, who had fallen back from reversed-grid polesitter Yann Ehrlacher’s Lada Vesta.
Guerrieri’s route to the front was made easier by the intervention of a safety car that wiped out the Ehrlacher’s lead. The Campos Chevrolet driver showed no mercy by dispatching Ehrlacher on the brakes for Turn 2 after lining up a move along the main straight on the restart, then cantered clear to a second series win.
Race two was, for want of a better expression, something of a damp squib. During the 90 minutes between races darker skies and heavier rain rolled in, so a second safety-car start was no surprise. Sadly, the dash off the grid was the most exciting part; with cars squirming in third gear along the straight and struggling to keep pace with the safety car, the main event was curtailed after three limp laps – a decision the majority of the field agreed with.
After brief confusion over the issuing of points, the result was declared and Volvo’s polesitter Girolami was confirmed as a default first-time winner, after ‘leading’ more than the mandatory two laps to qualify for half points to be awarded.
With the nine and a half points for third, plus three from qualifying, Bjork’s weekend haul was just enough to steer him clear of Monteiro in the championship. More significant was the form of Michelisz, who scored a fourth in race one – protected throughout by stand-in team-mate Gabriele Tarquini – plus 11.5 points for runner-up spot in the main event, which brought him to within two of Bjork’s overall total.
Monteiro can be happy that he wasn’t left behind – and he now has a week to prove his fitness, knowing the title is still well and truly on.