Photo: TCR Europe

Néstor Girolami: Qualifying and tyre preservation key to Paul Ricard success

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Friday’s second practice pace-setter Néstor Girolami says that tyre preservation amid increasing track temperatures will be the key to securing a good result in the opening TCR Europe series round of the year at Paul Ricard.

The Argentinian, standing in for Viktor Davidovski at PSS Racing as the Macedonian was unable to travel to France due to COVID-19 restrictions, set the quickest time in the second session of the weekend in his Honda Civic Type-R TCR.

With track temperatures nearing 50 degrees during the first day of action, Girolami is expecting tyre management to play a crucial role for the rest of the weekend.

“The team have done an excellent job,” said Girolami.

“Everything was really well prepared despite the short notice; during FP1 I was trying to get used to the car as it’s brand new and in TCR Europe there are some differences to my usual car.

“So, I had to try and understand quickly what was needed and then we made some changes for FP2 that paid off and we used a new set of tyres at the very end.

“I think we are in a very strong position but tomorrow is another story. It’s currently over forty degrees on track and tomorrow will be about the same.”

The last time TCR Europe visited Paul Ricard, in 2018, Hyundai and Cupra dominated practice, qualifying and the races, while the Hondas were third best.

Girolami, who ended the first session third, is hopeful that while the Civic Type-R lacks straight-line speed, a “compromise” set-up might be the key to unlocking the full potential this weekend.

“We are not the fastest on the straight, so that will be challenging for both races,” Girolami added.

“Our top speed is not the best, but we have a very good compromise between Sector 1 and Sector 3 and so we will see. Qualifying will be important, but so will be understanding the tyre degradation.

“The race will be really hot and so the car that survives with the better tyres until the second half of the race will have a very big difference. We need to be in the right window to finish the race in the best way possible.”