Yvan Muller
It’s FIA World Touring Car Championship season finale time in Qatar. Here’s what five leading drivers have said.
Robert Dahlgren (Polestar Cyan Racing): “I’ve done some evening races but I’ve never raced at night although I will approach it like I do any other race because it looks fantastic. It feels great to be back in the car and to get the chance to race again having been given the opportunity to test as well. I want to have a drive next year full time and Qatar can be important for that because it’s what people will remember over the winter. I hope I can deliver the results.”
Rob Huff (Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team): “You never quite know what to expect when you go to Qatar to race a car. You obviously have the sand aspect and because there’s not a huge amount of motorsport happening you never gain a huge amount of grip. It’s a challenging track, fast and exciting. Qatar fits very well with the World Touring Car Championship and introducing things like night races is partly why, after 11 years, the World Touring Car Championship is alive and why races like Qatar work.”
Yvan Muller (Citroën Total WTCC): “I realise it’s a special race and there might be some emotions. It’s also more than a race because I want to be second for my team. It’s always good to race at night, it’s always a special moment and it was a cool thing to do last year. It’s not easy to overtake at this track but most of the circuits are not designed for overtaking. And it’s a fact if you follow another touring car you lose downforce and once you lose downforce you lose time.”
Gabriele Tarquini (LADA Sport Rosneft): “I raced in the night in the past in England and Italy but never with proper lights on like in Qatar, which makes it a lot like a normal race because the light is very powerful. But it’s different for people watching and that’s good. I want to give LADA the best possible result because it’s their last race but I hope it won’t be my last race. I want to drive a World Touring Car again, I love the category and I love the WTCC.”
Mehdi Bennani (Sébastien Loeb Racing, WTCC Trophy): “There are a lot of partnerships between Morocco and Qatar and when I race in Qatar it’s really like Marrakech so I hope to have a fantastic race. It could be a bit more special now I am already world champion and I think I will be even stronger because I will have nothing to lose and nothing to win. I will do my best to do two strong races and get some good points overall because I need to think about this overall championship. I hope to score more points to be close to the top five.”
