Photo: WTCC Media

Interview with Gené on Valencia and diesel

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World Touring Car Championship SEAT-driver Jordi Gené is heading to his home race in Spain this weekend. TouringCarTimes had a chat with the Spaniard who thinks the ballast will be a though obstacle to get past at Valencia.
“It will be very difficult because I have 40 kilos of ballast. Our car is very competitive, but I do not think it will be the same like in Mexico where we were one step ahead of the others,” said Gené to TouringCarTimes.com.

“But I love to race here and I normally am very fast there. I hope this can compensate for the ballast and I hope I can fight for some points,” said Gené.

So far in the WTCC 2008 Gené is fourth after collecting 15 points. And collecting points consistently is something the SEAT-driver finds crucial.

“I am fighting for every championship point. I usually have a very good second part of the season. Last year after the first four races I did not score a single point. If you want to fight for the championship, you cannot have four races without points. If you do not have a good position in the championship after the first couple of races you will have problems to get good support from the team,” said Gené.

SEAT is currently dominating the drivers championship, occupying the top four places.
“We are really a team and we work hard together. Having many cars in the team is one of the keys to success in the championship. Sometimes the drivers compete against each other within the team. But I hope this does not change our situation as we are scoring a lot of points,” said Gené.

Gené has now completed a lot of kilometers behind the wheel of the diesel powered SEAT Léon, and the Spaniard is enjoying every bit.
“The first two races were very good in the car, better than I expected. The track in Mexico was very good for the diesel, but it will be very different when we are in Europe,” said Gené.

The FIA Touring Car Bureau changed the rules for the diesel cars for the coming race at Valencia. But Gené feels that it was too early to make those changes.
“It does not make sense to change the rules for the whole championship so early. You will see that at Valencia everyone will be very close. The problem is that we are very close at the moment and different cars will be good at different circuits. We have to see it on a global base. In my eyes there is absolutely no reason to change anything,” said Gené.