Rob Huff says that he and his LADA Sport Rosneft team “need to be careful this weekend” in Marrakech for the second meeting of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season.
Huff endured two retirements in the first two races of the season in Argentina, after his brand new LADA Vesta WTCC was damaged by rivals in the races.
Huff’s LADA team have since embarked on a test programme in Portimão with the team’s third car, which was recently completed for Mikhail Kozlovskiy. The teams running in Portugal was far from straightforward, however, with technical issues and engine gremlins limiting running. Consequently, Huff says that it will be important to continue data collection this weekend on the streets of Marrakech.
“We learnt a lot about the LADA Vesta TC1 in Argentina and found a few things that we can put right and develop further, and the fact that we were P1 in first qualifying shows the car has great pace,” said Huff. “It certainly feels fast, but we need to be careful this weekend, as a small error could see you in trouble. We need to know when to attack and when to ease off in order to collect as much data as possible from all three cars.
“It’s still very much a development year for the LADA Sport Rosneft team. Our testing programme in Portimão didn’t quite go to plan, as technical difficulties hampered running. It opened up a side of the car that needs developing, which is what testing is all about, but with the running we did do, we collected a lot of vital data.”
The former World Champion’s Morocco form book is good, with the Brit having won in the first-ever WTCC race in Africa when driving for Chevrolet, and he has collected a further four trophies around the tight circuit.
“I have a good history with the Circuit Moulay El Hassan, having stood on the podium there on a number of occasions, notably winning the first ever race in 2009,” added Huff. “It’s going to be a warm weekend, not as warm as Argentina, but it will still be tough on both car and driver. Hopefully we can come away with some strong results.”