John Filippi and Pepe Oriola satisfied after topping Barcelona test

The WTCR field completed an intense day of testing at Barcelona in preparation for the first race of the World Touring Car Cup season in just a weeks’ time. Campos Racing drivers John Filippi and Pepe Oriola were fastest in the two sessions, but gave a cautious evaluation of the day’s running, especially since the Balance of Performance hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Campos Racing will be competing with the new rebranded Cupra TCRs this season, and expect tough competition from a 25-strong field, featuring four former WTCC and the current TCR International Series champions.

Filippi was fastest in the afternoon session, finishing the day as fastest overall. “Today I was focussed on pushing as much as I can, to see how fast I could go with this car. We run on old tyres in the morning, doing also some long runs and getting the feeling of the car,” said the Corsican to TouringCarTimes.

“I wanted to compare the car’s behaviour on new tyres with the TC1. Yes, the car is slower but it’s also fun to drive, I think we can have some interesting fights and get some good results. Unfortunately, we don’t know how much weight everybody else was running, so we ran last year’s TCR BoP.”

Oriola was fastest in the morning session, finishing the day second overall, just two-tenths off his team-mate.

“I know the car well from last season and we ran with its latest BoP to get a feeling for qualifying. The day went well and we are satisfied with the result,” said the Spaniard.

The first WTCR season will see Oriola go up against some new and old rivals after three seasons in the TCR International Series, but the Spaniard remains unfazed about the challenge ahead: “I raced in WTCC before, so I know a lot of the drivers already as I have already encountered them on the track. I think the year ahead will be very interesting.”