LADA Sport head to the opening round of the 2014 World Touring Car Championship in Marrakech this weekend cautious of their chances due to a relative lack of testing of their new TC1-spec Granta.
LADA, who have recruited former World Champion Rob Huff to the team for 2014, encountered a number of technical problems with their car after it was first shown off and inspected by the FIA in March.
The resulting changes meant that the team opted to miss the Valencia test session at the end of March, which was attended by representatives of all other TC1 teams.
2011 champion Huff admits that the lack of testing in comparison to Citroën and Honda will make the start of the season tough for the Russian team.
“It’s difficult to ignore the lack of testing,” admitted Huff. “However, we can already be certain about some things with the new Granta. The car feels fast, the balance feels good, the brakes are working well, the engine feels very strong and you can really feel the aerodynamics working on the car. The car is much faster and more aggressive than the old-spec touring car and the LADA Sport LUKOIL team has done a great job.
“The new tyre compound allows you to drive in a more racy manner and you can attack quite hard. However, while the car feels great, we have a lot of work to do throughout the season because, having completed limited pre-season testing miles, we don’t quite understand what the car is capable of and how to optimise the setup. The very first race will give a reference point and, one thing’s for sure, it’s gonna be an exciting and eventful year!”
James Thompson, who enters his fourth season as a LADA driver, echoed his team-mates opinion, adding that he feels there is much more potential to unlock from the car.
“After the 2014-spec Granta’s first shakedown in mid-March, the team struggled with some early teething problems that are an inevitability when building a brand new car,” said Thompson. “The entire team has worked tirelessly and, having completed so few testing miles, it’s still too early to have an accurate impression of the car’s competitiveness. What I can say is that the car is significantly faster than the old model, although it can be faster still and we are working on it.
“The braking is markedly different to the previous year, as the aero is now a powerful tool. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not LADA Sport LUKOIL has an advantage – some of the team’s chief competitors have very aggressive aero packages – but, maybe the car’s relatively small dimensions will help in terms of top speed.”
Thompson also provided words to ressaure fans of touring car racing that the races would remain close in 2014, despite the increased reliance on aerodynamics.
“I would also like to reassure those motorsport fans who are afraid that the new aero packages will hinder the close racing the FIA WTCC is famous for,” added Thompson. “I have no doubts that the spectators will continue to be treated to some classic touring car battles, but at much faster speeds!”
Russian Mikhail Kozlovskiy has clocked up the least running in the new TC1 car, but feels positive for the season ahead due to the improved proportions of the car.
“We can judge the pace of the new Granta Sport only in comparison with the previous version, because we didn’t share the circuit with other teams during the pre-season tests,” said Kozlovskiy, who spoke to TouringCars.Net about the reasons behind the lack of testing in March. “The car has received more power, has improved dynamic abilities and the aerodynamics are much better due to a reduction in height and an increase in width. The car’s balance is also better due to significant suspension improvements and the weight of the car was reduced by using more carbon fibre parts.
“The first half of the season is going to be very tough,” added Kozlovskiy. “Only one week after Morocco’s event, we will have an FIA WTCC round in France. It means the drivers have much responsibility to preserve the cars in Morocco, bringing them to the finish, as we say, “in one piece”, because there will be no time to correct serious mistakes and repair heavy damage.”