Girolami hoping for more WTCC starts

Argentine Super TC2000 champion Nestor Girolami aims to compete in two further World Touring Car Championship events this season ahead of a possible full-time campaign in 2016.

Girolami made his WTCC debut at the Slovakia Ring last weekend in the Nika International Honda Civic usually driven by Rickard Rydell, and will race in it again at Vila Real in July.

Although the Civic's pace was badly compromised by carrying 60kg of compensation weight, Girolami rose from 18th on the grid to finish 10th and 11th in Slovakia.

"I'm also hoping to race in Thailand and Qatar," he said. "I would like to enter both because they are new races [on the WTCC calendar], one is at night, but they might be too close in the calendar to Super TC2000 races.

"I'm working very hard for this [to race full-time in the WTCC]. The important thing is to make a good show, lap by lap."

Thailand's November 1 slot does not clash with any Super TC2000 events, the nearest being a round at Portero de los Funes on November 8, but the Qatar round's putative move to Friday, Nov. 27 clashes directly with the penultimate Super TC2000 round in Cordoba that weekend. Nevertheless WTCC promoter Francois Ribeiro is determined to bring Girolami over.

"He has the level to fight against [Jose Maria] Lopez," he said. "Have you seen the battles they had in 2013 in Super TC2000? This was tough and violent racing."

Originally on Autosport.com