WestCoast Racing have much to feel good about after a pleasing debut in the inaugural TCR International Series at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

With only weeks to prepare their all new Honda Civic TCR cars for action halfway around the world in unfamiliar conditions, the team worked tirelessly and drivers performed consistently to deliver a good points haul and exceed expectations with a pole position and a podium finish.

Sunday’s race saw Gianni Morbidelli line up fifth with René Münnich alongside in sixth and Kevin Gleason tenth in a reverse of yesterday’s top ten positions, presenting a good opportunity to be in the mix for the leading two Hondas and a new challenge for Gleason with half the field in front of him to negotiate.

A competitive race saw all three drivers engaged in battles, with Morbidelli leading the WestCoast charge in third and running nose-to-tail with the leading SEATs. Münnich, behind, battled and looked assured in sixth position, whilst Gleason, having initially dropped back, was lapping solidly and quickly to progress through to seventh position.

On the final lap, Morbidelli, who looked to challenge Pepe Oriola ahead for second, fell into the clutches of Andrea Belicchi in his SEAT and dropped to fourth position.

Not to be outdone however, the Italian saw a small gap at the last corner and made an impressive move to retake the place and claim his place on the podium, a solid reward for the team’s efforts.

WestCoast Racing Team Manager, James Nixon, was pleased with the team’s progress, “Of course we are happy to come away with a trophy, the team have worked really long hours and put in an incredible effort to get the cars here and into this position. We have much to work on, but much to be pleased about.”

Morbidelli, returning to the podium at a Formula 1 event once again, told the press of how impressed he had been with the WestCoast team’s work ethic, “Honestly, the team have done an amazing job in just four or five weeks since we first started (with the Honda TCR), and, whilst we have work to do to find some more pace to match the SEATs, I am pleased to have got this result.”

Gleason said, “I have got to be satisfied with my debut in the series. Pole position, no mistakes and a decent chunk of points is pretty good really.”

Münnich, a late entrant to the team, was also upbeat about his weekend, “No mistakes today and a good finish.”

Westcoast Racing and its three drivers now move on to Round 2 of the TCR International Series, again on the Formula 1 support package in Shanghai, China in two weeks time (11-12 April).