The second date of the Costa Rica Touring Car Championship CTCC 2017 is scheduled to take place this weekend, April 1 and 2, this date is known as the Hankook Cup.

The free practices began yesterday, Tuesday, March 28th with the trials of the Ford and Toyota Teams, this Wednesday the teams Hyundai and MG got the chance to test their cars and tomorrow will be the last day of practice and will include drivers from Chevrolet, Kia and Suzuki.

José Andrés Montalto, Toyota driver, was the winner of the first date of the CTCC which took place at the beginning of February.
One of the main concerns the pilots have as this date approaches is the high temperature that is normal during this time of the year in the country. Pilots have different ways of preparing for these conditions, having training sessions at the beach and using the sauna are two of the preferred activities, pilots also take oral saline solutions the days prior to the competition to avoid dehydration.

“Withstanding the high temperatures is unbearable, aside from the external heat, we are wearing a helmet and a special fireproof suit with several layers. Another detail is that the engine is located very close to the driver’s seat which generates even more heat, in the first date of competition the sole of one of my shoes melted”, commented Montalto.

For this date team Hyundai will not be counting with the participation of Chilean pilot Jorge Blas, he will be replaced by Costa Rican Charlie Fonseca, an experienced driver that will be participating next to Danny Formal and Erick Xirinachs. According to Hyundai, the decision was taken with the idea of having a more competitive team, by adding a third local driver the logistic of the practices and training sessions are much easier.