Mikhail Grachev hails “unexpected” fourth win of the season

Mikhail Grachev took advantage of the reversed-grid pole position he inherited from WestCoast Racing team-mate Kevin Gleason after several penalties for track limits infringements to take his fourth win of the season.

The Russian admitted he did not expect to be able to fight for the win, although he conceded his Honda Civic TCR had improved compared to qualifying: “It’s an amazing feeling to win here at Singapore, I am very happy,” said Grachev. “I did not expect to be in a position to win on a track which does not really suit the Honda. We have a lot of understeer in all 90-degree corners. Today, the car felt better than yesterday, but clearly, the good thing was to start from the front row.”

Like Race 1 winner Jean-Karl Vernay, Grachev believes a good start was the key: “I knew that if could take a good start and stay at the front, I had a chance and that’s what happened. The two safety-car periods eventually also helped.”

Grachev has no regrets over not making an earlier switch to WestCoast Racing, which marked his turn in form and the start of a very good season: “It’s my fourth win of the season, so it’s not such a bad year for me. People ask me what could have happened if I had switched to WestCoast Racing and Honda earlier, but it is useless to speculate on that. I just took the decision that I thought was the right one at that moment, and it turned out to be a good choice.”

Grachev had previously raced for Liqui Moly-backed Team Engstler.