Honda’s JAS Motorsport Team Boss Alessandro Mariani says that he is pleased with the team’s performance in the opening round of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in Argentina, despite Tiago Monteiro scoring the manufacturer’s only podium in race two.
All five of Honda’s drivers had struggled to match the pace of Citroën throughout the weekend, with Monteiro and team-mate Gabriele Tarquini qualifying in fifth and seventh positions respectively on Saturday.
In the two races on Sunday both drivers kept their noses clean to score a brace of valuable top five positions, with Monteiro finishing on the podium in race two after Citroën’s Yvan Muller was forced to pit for a radiator clearance whilst running in front.
JAS Motorsport Managing Director Mariani says that he had not expected the team to be at the very front at the start of the season, despite an extensive winter testing programme for the outfit.
“This is the first step and has confirmed that we have solved the problems of last year,” explained Mariani. “For sure the new parts that will arrive soon will be really effective. The team is working well and the drivers did an excellent job this weekend.
“I had not expected to be right at the top at the start of the season so I am satisfied with the results but we must work on the next stage of development quickly.”
As a result of Monteiro’s fourth and third in the two races, the Portuguese racer lies third overall in the championship, with Tarquini joint fourth with Muller. Monteiro believes he and the team are closer to Citroën than in 2014, with the gap in qualifying less than half a second in Q1 and Q2.
“We are clearly closer to the competition than last year and with more updates coming I am confident we will increase our challenge as the season progresses,” said Monteiro. “We will keep fighting and put pressure on them wherever we can.
“It was so horribly hot in the cars, I have never driven in such heat. But we have done well and our results are reward for all the hard work of the team to get the season underway with such positive results.”
Tarquini emphasised how it was good to start the season with points in the bag, after the Italian failed to even participate in the season opener in 2014 due to accident damage in Marrakech.
“It was good to start the season with points,” said the veteran Italian. “I had expected us to be more competitive than last year and I think we are but there is still more improvement needed to meet the big challenge of the opposition.
“The next two events are very different to Argentina. Marrakesh is a street circuit with high kerbs and it is almost a lottery. Then Hungary is a much better circuit for the Civic so I hope we can gain even more performance by then.”