Adrian Valles en Monaco

Veröffentlicht am 22.5.2009 von Wolfgang

Domingo 24 de mayo a las 11:15

M Ó N A C O

25 vueltas (màx. 44 + 1 vuelta)

Mónaco está considerado como uno de los circuitos más complejos de trazar, además de uno de los más peligrosos.

Adrián ya conquistó el podio en el año 2005 disputando las World Series by Renault. Los años 2006 y 2008 también le vieron en las calles de Mónaco al volante de un monoplaza Gp2, logrando el año pasado una brillante cuarta posición compitiendo por la escudería BCN.

Ayer, jueves, se celebraron los entrenamientos libres donde Epsilon Euskadi supo trabajar de cara a las clasificatorias y carrera. Renunciaron a la búsqueda del titular informativo a toda costa tan común en otras formaciones, manteniéndose centrados en preparar la carrera. No quemaron un juego de ruedas nuevas a la búsqueda del ilusorio honor de liderar los entrenamientos libres.

Es un circuito tremendo, no te da segundas oportunidades. Te exige el máximo de concentración y técnica. Necesitas el coche afinado al máximo y no tener incidencias en carrera. Si conseguimos esas premisas, es una carrera ideal para demostrar el pilotaje que llevas dentro.

Adrián Rafael C. de Bustamante

WTCC: VALENCIA SPAIN

Veröffentlicht am 22.5.2009 von Wolfgang

ROUTE TO: VALENCIA, SPAIN
The 9^th and 10^th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place in Spain, at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo on May 30^th and 31^st. This is the sixth consecutive visit of the FIA Touring Cars to the Spanish stadium-like racetrack.
Alfa Romeo dominated the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship meeting, with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gabriele Tarquini who took one victory apiece. The following year, on the FIA WTCC inaugural season, local hero Jordi Gené started from pole position to give the new SEAT León its first win, while Jörg Müller won Race 2 for BMW. In 2006 Alfa Romeo won again with Augusto Farfus in the first race and BMW’s Jörg Müller encored in the second one. The 2007 event was the Italian manufacturer’s swan song as James Thompson claimed a double victory after two breathtaking races.
Last year the Chevrolet team broke their duck at the Spanish racetrack. Robert Huff, who had been involved in three consecutive first-turn pile ups from 2005 to 2007, charged from fourth on the grid to first under the chequered flag. In Race 2 Alain Menu scored Chevrolet’s second win of the day, while his team-mate Huff recovered from eight on the reverse grid to a brilliant second.

The WTCC cars always attract large crowd in Valencia

FIA CLARIFIES ENGINE MATTERS
Following the never ending technical checks in Pau, the FIA Technical Department issued clarifications on both the engine speed limits and the measurement of the supercharged air pressure.

ENGINE SPEED – The limits (8500 or 4200 rpm for petrol and diesel engines respectively) represent the maximum speed the engine can reach when it works as a motor. Cases of overreving while downshifting, wheelspinning and jumping over the kerbs will not be taken into account.

SUPERCHARGED AIR PRESSURE – The limit of the relative pressure for the turbodiesel engines has been raised to 2.7 bar by a decision from the FIA Touring Car Bureau. Overboost pressure spikes above this limit – due to instability phenomena like gear shifting – which last less than one second will be allowed.

BMW ON MAXIMUM COMPENSATION WEIGHT
Although they still have to claim their first victory of the season the BMW 320si cars are the fastest WTCC machines so far according to the calculation determining the compensation weight for the next event.
The compensation weight for Valencia was calculated taking into account the lap times set in the three previous events (Mexico, Morocco and France).
The BMW emerged as the reference model and will receive a 40kg ballast for the races in Spain, while the Chevrolet Cruze (0.4 seconds slower) will be laden with 30 extra kilos and the SEAT Tdi (0.5 seconds slower) with 20.
All the other cars – LADA 110, SEAT León TFSI and Alessandro Zanardi’s BMW 320si (the only one equipped with a sequential gearbox) – will have 20kg deducted from their minimum weight.

Compensation weights Valencia

+ 40 kg BMW 320si
+ 30 kg Chevrolet Cruze LT
+ 20 kg SEAT León TDI
– 20 kg BMW 320si Zanardi, LADA 110, SEAT León TFSI

www.fiawtcc.com

SNIJERS GETS VOLKSWAGEN FOR BELGIUM YPRES RALLY

Veröffentlicht am 22.5.2009 von Wolfgang

SNIJERS GETS VOLKSWAGEN FOR BELGIUM YPRES RALLY … AND ALL THE OTHER NEWS FROM THE IRC

Legendary Belgian driver Patrick Snijers will chase his fifth Belgium Ypres Rally victory at the wheel of a Volkswagen Polo Super 2000.
The 51-year-old, who finished fifth on the event last year in a BFGoodrich Drivers‘ Team Peugeot 207, will drive for Rene Georges Rally Sport on the asphalt event, round five of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which runs from June 18-20.
Rene George Rally Sport engineer Jack de Keijzer said: "Patrick has been looking to use a Super 2000 car on Ypres. We were in contact with him last year about driving our Polo but in the end he won the chance to drive a Peugeot 207. For sure he can aim for a top-five finish although he is already thinking only about a podium."
De Keijzer confirmed Snijers would complete a two-day test alongside his new team-mate Francois Duval at an undisclosed venue in Belgium in the build-up to the rally. Duval will drive a Skoda Fabia Super 2000.
"It is very important Patrick and Francois are both well prepared for this opportunity," said de Keijzer.
Andreas Waldherr, who was due to compete in Ypres in a second Rene Georges-run Polo, has elected to concentrate on his Austrian championship title challenge instead and will therefore not be making the trip to Ypres.

Belgian ace Patrick Snijers will drive a Volkswagen Polo S2000 in Ypres

LOIX CONFIDENT OF RECLAIMING IRC TITLE LEAD

Freddy Loix believes he can still win this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge despite losing the title initiative to Kris Meeke on the Sata Rally Acores earlier this month.
Loix led the standings prior to the IRC’s inaugural visit to the Azores but slipped two points behind Meeke following his fourth place finish on the island event.
However, Loix is the favourite to win his home event, the Belgium Ypres Rally, next month, a result he reckons will reinvigorate his title challenge.
"I am in a better position than I was 12 months ago before taking on Ypres, my favourite event," said Loix, who finished runner-up to Kronos Racing team-mate Nicolas Vouilloz in last year’s standings. "It’s going to be a big fight to win the championship and it’s going to be very close, just like it was last year."
Loix, who has won the Belgium Ypres Rally on five occasions, is also confident that working with new co-driver Frederic Miclotte will increase his chances of claiming the coveted drivers‘ crown.
"The adaptation to my new co-driver went perfectly in the Azores and that has made me more confident for the rest of the season," said Loix. "But I have to be consistent and make sure I score points in every round."

Loix is feeling upbeat about his IRC title campaign this year

PEUGEOT TEAM EXPECTS BIG FIGHT WITH RIVAL SKODA

Kronos Racing boss Marc van Dalen is bracing himself for a big battle for Intercontinental Rally Challenge honours with the factory Skoda outfit.
Van Dalen’s team runs the Peugeot 207 Super 2000s of Freddy Loix, Kris Meeke and Nicolas Vouiloz. It is also responsible for the BFGoodrich Drivers‘ Team entry on selected rounds of the series.
Although Kronos-run drivers have claimed victory on three of the four rounds run so far this season, defeating Skoda on two occasions in the process, van Dalen expects the threat posed by the works Skoda drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky will intensify as the season progresses.
"Skoda is a very good team with two good drivers so I am sure we will continue to have a big fight with them," said van Dalen.
While Kronos has committed to contesting nine of the 12 IRC rounds this year, it’s unclear when the Czech team will compete next.
"We’re going to Rally Russia but we are also studying the possibility of participating on the Belgium Ypres Rally, which will be an additional event to what we originally planned," said Skoda team manager Pavel Hortek.
VAN DEN HEUVEL REVEALS IRC PROGRAMME
Jasper van den Heuvel will contest three rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this year, starting with next month’s Belgium Ypres Rally. The 30-year-old Dutch driver is also planning to enter Barum Rally Zlin in Czech Republic in August before tackling the series finale, the RAC MSA Rally of Scotland, in November.
Van den Heuvel will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X for his van den Heuvel Motorsport team, which could field as many as seven cars on the asphalt event.
"I want to show the Evo 10 is quick on what is, for me, the fastest rally in Europe and not just against the other Group N cars but the Super 2000 cars as well," said van den Heuvel. "I have a long history with this rally. My father used to drive on it and I did my first Ypres Rally when I was 23. I was second overall for a time in front of all these guys so it is a tradition for me to always try and do this rally."
Van den Heuvel said running seven cars in Ypres would not be a problem for this team.
"We are used to dealing with 11 cars on Dutch championship rallies so it is not a concern for me," said van den Heuvel.
MEEKE PREPARES FOR UK PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Fans of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge living in Great Britain will get an early taster of what’s in store on the RAC MSA Rally of Scotland, the final round of the IRC in November, when Kris Meeke appears at The Rally Show, a two-day rally-orientated festival in the country from June 6/7.
Meeke, who leads the IRC standings by two points, will be performing a series of demonstration runs in his Peugeot UK-backed 207 S2000. The occasion will mark the first time the 29-year-old from Northern Ireland will have driven his Kronos Racing-run Super 2000 car on British soil.
"We’re delighted he’s coming to The Rally Show," said Malcolm Neill, the event director. "Kris is a very talented driver and the fact he is leading the IRC makes this a real honour. It’s also going to be fantastic to see his Peugeot 207 Super 2000 car in action. It makes a great sound and will be terrific for the fans."
Meeke has won two of the four IRC rounds held so far this season. His co-driver Paul Nagle, from the Republic of Ireland, will also be appearing at the event, which is held on Tarmac roads within the grounds of the Chatsworth stately home in the county of Derbyshire.

Meeke will drive his Peugeot at a motorsport festival in England

www.rally-irc.com

Nicky Hayden looks forward to Mugello

Veröffentlicht am 22.5.2009 von Wolfgang

Race Preparation

Every part of the weekends important you know, I think that first practice on a Friday morning sometimes really sets the tone you know, how quick you make progress and you normally know by the end of Friday if its going to be a good weekend or not.

Qualifying also on Saturday is really important, the level of competition in MotoGP is so important that you cant qualify on the fourth row and expect to have a big result on Sunday normally, so its all important every lap, every session youve really got to focus on it and get the most out of everything so come Sunday when it is time to race youre prepared. Those meetings at night are just as important to make the right decisions with your team and to make the right steps to be ready to race.

Ive got a routine that I like to stick to and I take the weekend really serious. Its not a game, its not there just to be hanging out and oh if it goes good, ok if not, whatever I take it serious and a lot of people expect a lot from you so its you know, some weekends are a lot better than others but for the most part I feel really lucky, really fortunate to do what I do.

I love the racing; I love what I do, so the more races the better for me! Thats the fun part

Favourite MotoGP Circuits
Every race is a big race. You know, the home GPs in America this year, Laguna Seca were going to race July 4^th and Indy also is huge, I mean MotoGP in America is growing a lot and Indy is very close to my house. Weve worked a lot promoting the race together. So theres those two and also the two Italian rounds Mugello in particular, I think to be the Ducati factory rider, to go to Mugello its something that Im quite excited about. Itll certainly be a big sense of pride but theyre all important they all pay the same amount of points so you need to bring your A game every week.

Ultimate road bikes
The road bikes are getting really cool and the new Hypermotard by Ducati is pretty cool because its so versatile, I would have to say thats probably the best bike, if I had to go out and buy a street bike right now that would be the one.

Biking Heroes

I would say my all time [hero] is Bubba Shobert, he was an American dirt-tracker who went to race road-racing and won some AMA races and just started in GP before he had a career ending crash at Laguna Seca and actually the second year I won at Laguna I wore a replica helmet like his and that was one of the coolest moments of my life, to win a race in his helmet. But I respect all the guys, all the guys who came before me to really pave the road, to give me this sport what it is.