Photo: David Noels Photography

Kevin Ceccon: “It won’t be easy” after late call-up

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Kevin Ceccon makes his WTCR and touring car debut this weekend in at the Slovakiaring, racing a car he’s never raced before, at a track he’s never been to before, with a drive that came available only two days ago, and knows the odds are against him this weekend.

The 24-year-old single seater racer and more recently sports car driver has been drafted in at the last minute to replace Gianni Morbidelli at Team Mulsanne, after the team and the 50-year-old Italian parted company last week.

The Italian’s first experience of the Slovakiaring came in Free Practice 1 this afternoon in the team’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR, where he was 17th fastest, 1.7 seconds from Tom Coronel’s pace-setting Honda Civic TCR.

“The WTCR is a very good championship, and it’s not very easy for me to start in the World Touring Car Cup,” said Ceccon to TouringCarTimes. “There are many TCR championships but I start with the world championship straight away and in the middle of the season, so it’s not going to be easy.”

Ceccon’s team-mate is the very experienced Fabrizio Giovanardi, though the team have had a tough start to the year and are still chasing their first points.

“I have zero experience, and Fabrizio is one of the most experienced guys in WTCR, so it’s good to have him (as a team-mate),” added Ceccon.

The opportunity arose only three days ago, with the Italian drafted in after having only performance a shakedown with the car earlier in the year, though at the moment it’s just a one-race deal.

“I was in America two days ago and coaching a driver there, and then Michela (Cerruti, operations manager of car builder Romeo Ferraris) called me and said come to race in Slovakia. So I came back to Milan Malpensa on Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday afternoon I took the flight to come here.

“I’ve not raced since October last year when I raced in the Blancpain Endurance Series, so if I have the opportunity to race further I will, but at the moment we have no plans for after Sunday afternoon.”