Gianni Morbidelli says he has “a couple of weeks to heal wounds” after a difficult World Touring Car Championship weekend in Moscow, with the Münnich Motorsport driver managing just one points finish with eighth in race two.
Morbidelli could only manage 17th position in qualifying – his worst position since the season opener – after making a mistake on Saturday.
“On Saturday things didn’t go quite to plan and that Q1 mistake has affected [the weekend] outcome,” said Morbidelli after the races on Sunday. “Starting from row eight you cannot expect too much.”
Race one was not a particularly lively affair, with Morbidelli finishing the race in 12th position after failing to make up much ground from row eight.
“In race one I was not too happy of the way my car was handling. Therefore the final spot was more or less what I could expect.”
Race two saw the Italian gain nine positions from his grid slot to finish the race in eighth position. Morbidelli was involved in close battles with Tom Coronel and Sébastien Loeb, before being forced to defend from fellow Chevrolet driver Hugo Valente towards the end of the race. Morbidelli criticised some particularly defensive driving from Loeb after the race.
“I was very, very happy with my pace in the early stages of race two,” said Morbidelli. “After moving past the LADAs I was chasing Tom Coronel for tenth and I think I was even quicker than him early on. There was possibly a chance to get a good result there, as Tom took the flag fourth, eventually.
“Unfortunately I was one of those involved in close, often too close, fights with the likes of Tom Chilton and Séb Loeb. Especially the French bloke was really über-aggressive and the banging that my poor Cruze received from the Citroën took a toll.
“In the second half the car set-up wasn’t what it used to be anymore, and I even had to sweat a lot to keep Hugo Valente at bay until the end.
“I have to say again that it could have been a different Sunday, with a different Saturday. Luckily I have a couple of weeks to heal wounds, and Spa seems pretty well suited to make me forget these bad memories.”