Archiv des Monats: Mai 2009

Formula BMW Europe – Läufe 1 und 2 – Barcelona – Rennen 1

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Christensen feiert ersten Sieg seiner Formel BMW Karriere
Barcelona, 9. Mai 2009. Wie erwartet war der erste Lauf zur Formula BMW Europe 2009 eine spannende Angelegenheit. Den Sieg sicherte sich der Däne Michael Christensen (Mücke Motorsport), der vom Brasilianer Luiz Felipe Nasr (Eurointernational) und Jazeman Jaafar (Eifelland Racing) aus Malaysia auf das Podium begleitet wurde.
Mit dem Erlöschen der Ampel kam es zwischen Christensen und Polesitter Nasr zu einem Kampf um die erste Kurve. Der Däne gewann diesen und sicherte sich die Führung, die er von diesem Zeitpunkt an nicht wieder abgab. Auch der beste Rookie im Qualifying, Robin Frijns (Josef Kaufmann Racing), erwischte einen guten Start. Der junge Niederländer ging als Vierter ins Rennen und kam als Dritter vor Javier Tarancon (DAMS) und Jaafar aus der ersten Runde zurück. In der sechsten Runde überholte der als Sechster gestartete Jaafar jedoch Lokalmatador Tarancon. Frijns war auf dem Weg zur Siegerehrung das nächste Opfer des Asiaten.
Am Ende der dritten Runde musste das Safety Car ausrücken, während das gestrandete Auto von Olivier Lombard (Eurointernational) geborgen wurde, der mit seinem Rookie-Kollegen Jack Te Braak (Mücke Motorsport) kollidiert war. Für Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd war es kein guter Nachmittag, denn Mikkel Mac und sein Teamkollege, der chinesische Gaststarter Hu An Zhu, stießen zusammen. Der Chinese musste daraufhin ohne Heckflügel aufgeben.
Auf der Strecke wurde eng gekämpft und am Ende der 13 Runden hatte Sieger Christensen gerade mal sechs Zehntelsekunden Vorsprung. Bei den Rookies gewann Frijns, der gegen Rennmitte mit einer ganzen Reihe an schnellsten Runden zu beeindrucken wusste. Die absolut schnellste Runde fuhr jedoch Nasr im zehnten Umlauf.
1. – Lauf 1: Michael Christensen (DK/Mücke Motorsport): “Das war ein großartiges Rennen für mich. Ich legte einen guten Start hin, überholte Nasr und sah danach nicht mehr viel von ihm. Ich wollte einfach so gut wie möglich fahren und keine Fehler machen. Ich wusste, dass der Druck beim Restart nach dem Safety Car groß sein würde, aber ich hielt meine Linie und stach als Erster in die Kurve. Was soll ich sagen? Es ist perfekt für mich, dieses Rennen gewonnen zu haben, denn es ist mein erster Sieg in dieser Serie.“
2. – Lauf 1: Luiz Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernational): “Der Start ist mir nicht geglückt, aber für mein erstes Rennen in der Formula BMW Europe ist das ein gutes Ergebnis. Es wäre schön gewesen, zu gewinnen, aber ich bin recht zufrieden. Mal sehen, was morgen drin ist. Ich denke, dass ich ein gutes Auto habe, aber wir müssen das Setup mehr für die Anfangsphase ausrichten, denn das war heute meine schwächste Zeit. Das Ende war besser für mich, also bin ich glücklich.“
3. – Lauf 1: Jazeman Jaafar (MY/Eifelland Racing): “Ein guter Tag, schließlich kam ich vom sechsten Startplatz. Ich lieferte mir einen harten Kampf mit Frijns und Tarancon, erzielte aber einen Podestplatz, über den ich mich freue. Nach dem Safety Car konnte ich zu Frijns aufschließen und ich war am Ende der Geraden neben ihm. Ich habe von der ersten bis zur letzten Runde gepusht. Mal sehen, was morgen passieren wird. Ich hoffe auf ein gutes Ergebnis.“
4. – Lauf 1: Bester Rookie: Robin Frijns (ND/Josef Kaufmann Racing): “Am Start wurde ich von Tarancon unter Druck gesetzt, der flacher eingestellte Flügel fuhr als ich. Er war auf der Geraden ziemlich schnell, aber in den Kurven langsam. Ich musste mich auf der Geraden ständig verteidigen. Ich legte ein paar schnelle Rundenzeiten hin, kam aber nicht an Nasr vorbei, weil er auf der Geraden zu schnell war. Das Auto fühlte sich wirklich gut an. Morgen werde ich als Sechster starten. Das Ziel ist ein Ergebnis unter den besten Fünf.“
Provisorisches Resultat Rennen 1
1. Michael Christensen (DK/Mücke Motorsport) 25:27.351
2. Luiz Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernational) 25:28.019
3. Jazeman Jaafar (MY/Eifelland Racing) 25:29.402
4. Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing)R 25:30.016
5. Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) 25:33.105
6. David Mengesdorf (DE/Eifelland Racing) 25:35.375
7. Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsport)R 25:37.337
8. Kazeem Manzur (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 25:38.138
9. Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 25:38.322
10. Ollie Millroy (GB/Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd) 25:39.170
11. Jim Pla (FR/DAMS) 25:41.764
12. William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) 25:42.807
13. Facu Regalia (ES/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 25:43.555
14. Ramon Pineiro (ES/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 25:44.035
15. Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GB/Raikkonen Robertson Racing) 25:46.062
16. Kevin Gilardoni (ITA/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 25:47.038
17. George Katsinis (GRE/Eifelland Racing)R 25:47.782
18. Jack Te Braak (NL/Mücke Motorsport)R 25:50.203
19. Gregoire Demoustier (FR/Raikkonen Robertson Racing) 25:55.501
20. Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS) 25:57.289*
21. Antonio Martinez (ES/Fortec Motorsport)R 25:57.302
22. Mikkel Mac (DK/Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd)R 1:54.039
nicht klassiert
Timmy Hansen (SE/Mücke Motorsport)R 6 Runden
Olivier Lombard (FR/Eurointernational)R 2 Runden
Hu An Zhu (CN/Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd) (Guest Driver) 2 Runden
Come Ledogar (FR/DAMS) 1 Runde
Schnellste Runde: Nasr 1:52.863 in Runde 10
R – Rookie
* 25 Sekunden Zeitstrafe wegen Verschaffens eines unfairen Vorteils.
Alle Resultate vorbehaltlich des Ausgangs der technischen Untersuchungen.

http://bmw-motorsport.com

TROY CORSER UND BMW ERSTMALS IN STARTREIHE DREI.

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BMW Motorrad Motorsport Fahrer Troy Corser verbuchte heute mit der elftschnellsten Zeit seine beste Superpole in diesem Jahr und nimmt das Rennen morgen aus der dritten Startreihe auf. Möglicherweise wäre das Ergebnis noch besser ausgefallen, hätten die Streckenposten während einer sehr schnellen Runde gegen Ende nicht gelbe Flaggen geschwenkt. Troy Corsers Teamkollege Ruben Xaus startet morgen als 14. aus der vierten Reihe und war ebenfalls zufrieden, sich damit in der Superpole verbessert zu haben. Der Amerikaner Ben Spies (Yamaha) setzte seine perfekte Serie an Superpoles fort und verwies Michel Fabrizio (Ducati), Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) sowie Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) auf die Ränge zwei bis vier.

mehr…

www.bmw-motorrad.com

Spies makes it five in a row in Monza

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QUALIFYING 2 REPORT
To the delight of The Yamaha World Superbike Team’s home crowd rider Ben Spies effortlessly rode his R1 to take an incredible fifth consecutive Superpole of the year, again breaking the lap record in the process. Having spent the two qualifying sessions fine tuning his set up for race day, Spies took it relatively easy for the first two Superpole heats, ensuring he made it through to the final eight without using a qualifier tyre. As the final heat started, out came the new Pirelli qualifier tyre with its distinctive yellow stripe, and the lap time tumbled as Spies displayed what is now becoming almost expected, a scorching Superpole lap and a new lap record.
Team-mate Tom Spies had a more frustrating Superpole experience, having started well on a qualifier in the first session he made it through safely to the second. The young British rider’s flying lap saw him quick enough through the first two splits to go through to the final session, however he came up against another rider on a slow down lap halfway round the infamous Parabolica corner, losing nearly half a second in the process and sealing his fate outside the top ten for the final heat. Sykes will now start tomorrow’s races from the third row of the grid.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1’44.073)
"It’s been really good here at Monza this weekend. The approach has been a bit different, we’ve kind of tried to sneak up on everyone and been working really hard on the race setup through the sessions. We’ve been working quietly away in the garage and I think the bike is going to be really good in the race. I really wanted to get this one for Yamaha on their home track so it was great to be able to take the Superpole for the team. It looks like it could be a bit of a dogfight tomorrow, hopefully we’ll have some guys up there to mix it up and shake up the points a little bit."

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (10th 1’45.383)
"Qualifying was a fairly steady session, we tried a couple more things to cross some boxes, so it was constructive. We got some more information out of it which helped towards the Superpole. We did the first Superpole heat ok, the aim of the game was to get into the top sixteen and we did that. I was fairly confident for the second one, I knew I was on a good lap and everything felt really nice and smooth but coming into the last corner, Kiyonari was in front of me. He was going pretty slowly and then sat up and we nearly came together. I lost half a second there and didn’t have time to get back and change tyres for another go. I’m very disappointed as I feel that our race pace for tomorrow is quite strong and we are having to start from row three. Hopefully we can get a good clean start and get through the first chicane and try and go with the leading bunch as I know we can stay with them."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"After the pole position we are quite confident that tomorrow we can run a good race. Here in Monza the two races will be really close at the start with a lot of riders in a tight pack for the first half but I think after that just a few riders will fight for the win. I think tomorrow we will see two very good races."

www.yamaha-racing.com

Team Peugeot Total springs into life

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Unlike Barcelona, today’s qualifying session did not result in a big surprise in the LMP1 class, as Team Peugeot Total snatched pole and second position under overcast weather conditions.

Changing weather conditions, combined with the usual set-up compromises required at Spa, left many teams with mixed thoughts before qualifying but, judging by the timesheets, everyone obviously made good choices.

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Circuit de Catalunya: Bridgestone Motorsport’s Saturday Update

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Bridgestone’s soft tyre allowed Brawn GP driver Jenson Button to qualify with his third pole position of the season for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya. Button set a time of 1min 20.527secs, a tenth faster than Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP) went third fastest. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Felipe Massa used the soft tyre to go fastest in the morning practice session with a time of 1min 20.553secs. Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima – Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development What was significant about today’s running? “Today we had an exciting qualifying session and we have an interesting grid for tomorrow’s race. Lap times are extremely close here and tyre strategy was crucial in qualifying. The soft compound is around half a second faster than the hard which meant this tyre was used extensively through all the qualifying sessions, although some of the faster competitors used the hard compound for Q1. Many teams have new aerodynamic packages here and we have been able to see how effective these developments have been.” How are the two compounds working here in Spain? “The two compounds are working very much as expected and there have been no surprises for teams. The soft tyre will be the preferred tyre for the race as it is faster but without significant wear or degradation issues. This should make strategy decisions easy for the race tomorrow. However, we have seen forecasts of rain, so everyone will be looking to the skies for the best indicator for the best tyre strategy.”

www.bridgestonemotorsport.com

MEEKE TAKES A COMMANDING LEAD IN THE AZORES

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Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke has charged to a commanding lead at the end of the first full day’s running in the Sata Rallye Acores, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In the course of nine stages, the 29-year-old Ulsterman passed overnight leader Freddy Loix’s similar Peugeot 207 S2000 and survived a wheel-wrecking rock on SS4 to set consistent times through the day to keep ahead of his championship rivals.
Meeke held good to his pre-event strategy of not being lured into over-stressing himself or his car when rivals not contesting the full 11-round IRC set impressive times. Nevertheless he was able to take and retain the overall lead from Loix, the winner of last night’s opening superspecial, before building a comfortable 30 second cushion over defending champion Nicolas Vouilloz, lying second at the end of the day in another Peugeot 207.
The first two stages of the day were a battle between Meeke and the Skoda Fabia of Finnish gravel ace Juho Hanninen, but the Finn dropped eleven and a half minutes on SS4 4, Pinhal da Paz, after damaging his wheels and suspension on the same rocks that Meeke had clipped. On the day’s final stage, the second run through Pinhal da Paz, Hanninen’s hopes of recovering the lost time were dashed in a stage-stopping shunt that ended his rally in dramatic style.
The second factory Skoda Fabia, driven by Czech asphalt ace Jan Kopecky, responded with a fastest time on SS5 in a total of five top three stage times through the day to end up third at the overnight halt in host town Ponta Delgada. Behind him the first of the Abarth Grande Punto S2000 runners, Finland’s Anton Alen, made the best of his machinery with some brave performances to climb from eighth to fourth, keeping clear of Loix and local hero Fernando Peres in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
Starting the final day in seventh place will be Alen’s Italian team mate Giandomenico Basso. The Italian precedes Conrad Rautenbach who struggled with lack of experience on his first Super 2000 class outing in eighth at the wheel of his Peugeot 207. The top 10 is rounded out by 2008 Rallye Azores winner Bruno Magalhães in another Peugeot 207, who earlier suffered transmission problems, and the Mitsubishi Lancer of Austrian Franz Wittmann.
The technically challeging surfaces of volcanic rock, loose gravel and asphalt have caused plenty of incident, and a total of 13 cars from the 50 starters have retired due to either accidents or mechanical strain.
In the IRC 2WD Cup, Frenchman Denis Millet leads the way in his Peugeot 207 RC Rallye from Italy’s Manuel Villa in his Fiat Punto S1600.
IRC RESULTS AFTER SS10, SATA RALLYE ACORES (PORTUGAL)
1 Meeke/Nagle    Peugeot 207 S2000    1h20m29.8s
2 Vouilloz/Klinger    Peugeot 207 S2000    +40.2s
3 Kopecky/Stary    Skoda Fabia S2000    +50.6s
4 Alen/Alanne    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    +1m18.2s
5 Loix/Miclotte    Peugeot 207 S2000    +1m47.4s
6 Basso/Dotta    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    +2m00.3s
7 Peres/Silva    Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9    +2m10.4s
8 Rautenbach/Barritt    Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9    +2m47.1s
9 Magalhaes/Magalhaes    Peugeot 207 S2000    +2m59.2s
10 Wittmann/Ettel    Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9    +3m18.4s
Two-wheel drive leader: Denis Millet (Peugeot 207 RC Rallye)
QUOTES
"It’s been a really tricky day with stages that contained a bit of everything. This rally has been even more varied than I imagined it would be after the recce, which is saying something. We’ve tried not to take any risks and I’ve had a very good feeling with the car all day. There was an interruption at the end of the day for an hour before the last stage after Hanninen’s accident, and while some people wanted to see the stage cancelled as it was getting late I wanted to continue as I knew that I could pull out some more time. I’m very happy but this rally is far from over so we need to be extra careful tomorrow."
-Kris Meeke, Peugeot UK driver
"It’s been incredibly tough, but we’ve had no real problems today apart from trying to keep the car on the road, which is never easy. Just as was the case in Brazil Kris has shown some really impressive pace and it’s very hard for us to keep up. This does not mean we are giving up though: we’re going to try and keep the same rhythm tomorrow and see where we end up at the finish. The plan is to score some useful points and so far we are on course to do that."
-Nicolas Vouilloz, Peugeot Belgium driver
"It’s been a good day for us but the last stage was very difficult and we struggled to find a good rhythm. Even though he is perfectly OK, it is never nice to hear that your team mate has had an accident and that deconcentrated me a little bit. But we are happy to get to the end of the day on the podium and we will try to keep this place tomorrow. Before this rally I was not feeling so confident but so far we are on course for a good result. If I could finish anywhere in the top five then I would be very pleased."
-Jan Kopecky, Skoda driver
THE ROUTE TOMORROW
Saturday’s final day of action in the Azores sees the crews complete a total of eight stages. The day starts at 08:15, followed by a loop of three stages that includes the longest and most challenging stage of the rally, the 22.37-kilometre Tronquiera test. The cars then return for a 20-minute service at Ponta Delgada at 12:40.
This service halt is followed by three more stages. The second service halt of the day takes place at 15:14. Finally, there are two more stages before the last service halt at 19:15, followed by the finish.
TV TIMES
The Sata Rally Acores will be broadcast on the Eurosport platform at the following times. On demand video footage, featuring highlights throughout the season to date, can also be accessed via the IRC website: www.rally-irc.com. All times listed are Central European Time (CET).
Friday 8 May
– 24h30 => 25h00      LIVE highlights of Day 1 (Eurosport)
Saturday 9 May
– 03h00 => 03h30     Highlights of Day 1 (Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
– 08h00 => 08h30     Highlights of Day 1 (Eurosport 2)
– 21h15 => 21h45     LIVE highlights of Day 2 (Eurosport)
Sunday 10 May
– 04h00 => 04h30     Highlights of Day 2 (Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
– 08h00 => 08h30     Highlights of Day 2 (Eurosport 2)
– 08h30 => 09h00     Highlights of Day 2 (Eurosport)
Tuesday 12 May
– 23h00 => 23h30      Rally Highlights (Eurosport)
Thursday 13 May
– 03h30 => 04h00      Rally Highlights (Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
Friday 14 May
– 04h00 => 04h30      Rally Highlights (Eurosport Asia-Pacific)
– 13h00 => 13h30      Rally Highlights (Eurosport 2)
– 18h30 => 19h00      Rally Highlights (Eurosport 2)
Thursday 20 May
– 18h30 => 19h00      Rally Highlights (Eurosport 2)  

!cid_d7ad2eeaac824dcd2ea2144cb8aba33c
Kris Meeke enjoyed the Azorean roads in his Peugeot UK 207 S2000

www.rally-irc.com

Sykes shines in Monza

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QUALIFYING 1 REPORT

Yamaha World Superbike rider Tom Sykes gave a tantalizing glimpse of his race pace today in the first qualifying session at the historic Monza circuit. The British rider put in strong consistent fats laps for the duration of the session, ending it in second place, just over 0.3 seconds behind leader Michele Fabrizio. Sykes had been fast all day and had spent the morning and the qualifying session fine tuning the set up for the weekend’s racing. He finished the morning ’s free practice session in third place, just behind his team-mate.
Ben Spies was in equally reliable form in the Italian sunshine, focusing on tyre wear and race pace he ran consistent laps all day, finishing the afternoon’s qualifying session in seventh position, less than 0.3 of a second off Sykes. The American rider spent the entire qualifying session on a single set of tyres to test the wear rate on the warm circuit. The morning’s free practice session saw Spies predictably fast on a circuit he’s coming to know well through testing, he finished the session second, less than 0.3 seconds behind the leader.

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1’45.758)
"A fairly decent day to day to be honest, we came here with a big change from the test we had here which has taken a fair bit of balancing but I think we’ve done it. Overall I’m very happy with my race tyres, we’re doing consistent fast laps over race distance so I’m confident in the team’s ability and tomorrow I think we’ll come out even stronger. I’m going to have a good sleep tonight and come back tomorrow with a fresh head and be even better!"

Ben Spies

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (7th, 1’46.013)
"It was a really good session for us. We pretty much found our race tyres , we only ran one set for the whole session and put in some really good lap times. We weren’t really worried about fast lap times today, we just wanted to get consistent laps so we should be good for Sunday. It’s an 18 lap race and our fastest lap today was the 22nd one so it’s looking good. The bike’s working really well so we’ll step it up tomorrow and see what happens."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"A good session for us, we were working to find the best set up for the race I think we’re pretty ready. We’ve made no major changes from the previous test here, just some small changes to improve and fine tune. The race pace was good so we’re satisfied, I think we are 90% there for Sunday."

Circuit Length: 5792

Lap Record: 1’47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 01/01/2002)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’44.931 (Troy Bayliss, 11/05/2008)
Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga

FREE PRACTICE REPORT
08/05/2009

Crutchlow and Foret get straight down to it in Monza

Both Cal Crutchlow and Fabien Foret got down to business quickly in Monza today. Crutchlow used the free practice session to familiarize himself with yet another new circuit, something he managed to do in just a few laps as his searingly quick pace showed at the end of the session. A small tumble early in the session did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm. His last lap of the day turning out to be the fastest of the Supersport riders, sending a clear message to his competitors that he means business on Sunday.
Team-mate Foret was well and truly back on form, having picked up his pace dramatically in Assen and showed his old racing style, he got down to it quickly in Monza today and put in consistently fast laps at the top of the pack, leading the session briefly before settling for fourth at the end, less than 0.5 of a second off his team-mate.

Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (1st, 1’50.594)
"It was good enough for me over the session, but I had a little bit of an off which I’m disappointed about. Every time I stick new boots on I crash! We worked hard this afternoon and done a lot of laps in the session. The race distance was good on the tyres so I’m happy enough, hopefully we can go into the weekend confident now. The second corner is weird, it’s absolutely flat out, you don’t shut off at all on a 600 and it took a bit of getting used to, there’s barrier all the way round and it kind of suck s you in! It’s nice to be quickest on the last lap and on one set of tyres, let’s hope we can keep that up over the weekend."

Fabien Foret

Fabien Foret

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (4th, 1’50.934)
"It was good for me, I found my pace pretty easily, I used a very similar bike set-up to last year which was very good. Obviously we tried to update it a bit but right now it’s working really well and I’m not pushing 100% yet so I would say everything is under control and good up to now. I enjoyed being out there on the bike and having fun on the track today, . I’m pretty happy and looking forward to tomorrow."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"It seems to be that Cal likes the track, not bad for his first time here and on provisional pole. Both the riders are happy, Fabien particularly likes this track. They both tried some different things in the session, including an Assen setting and the Monza setting from last year. We have a good direction as a result of the session, we’ve got a good combination of tyres which we didn’t have last year so everything seems to be under control! Cal had a little off, he started with a tyre which was probably not the best and had a small front end slide. The problem here is that anything is a high speed incident but he’s ok, no injuries so we’re looking forward to tomorrow with confidence."

Circuit Length: 5792

Lap Record: 1’52.635 (Chris Vermeulen, 01/01/2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’49.868 (Broc Parkes, 11/05/2008)
Last Years Winner: Fabien Foret

www.yamaha-racing.com

Free practice session: Oreca & Peugeot…in the thousandth near!

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We promised you some surprises for the week-end…you know that we never lie! The proof is that, from the first free practice session, the results are…amazing. The Oreca AIM n°11, driven by Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre, scored the exact same time as the Peugeot n°9 (with Marc Gené, Alexander Wurz and David Brabham) in the thousandth near!

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The Terminator joins Brawn GP at Spanish Grand Prix

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Brawn GP

Thanks to a partnership between the Brawn GP team and Sony Pictures Releasing International, Hollywood’s most famous robot, the Terminator, will make an appearance at the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix to celebrate the release of the forthcoming blockbuster Terminator Salvation.

Directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels) and starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington and Bryce Dallas Howard, the much-anticipated movie will be released in the UK on 3 June. Christian Bale portrays John Connor, leader of the human resistance against Skynet, in a post-apocalyptic landscape where an army of Terminators roams the earth looking for human survivors to kill or collect.

To celebrate the release of Terminator Salvation, the Brawn-Mercedes cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will carry the famous Terminator red eyes and imagery around the track during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

Brawn GP’s official new website launched

Brawn GP is pleased to announce a new look team website at www.brawngp.com

Designed to reflect the values and spirit of the British based team, the new look website is ambitious and fresh whilst being smart and simple to use. The website will provide fans of the team with updates from the track, alongside exclusive content such as driver diaries and interviews from Brawn GP team members at the track and in Brackley.

Fans can also leave their messages of support, thoughts and suggestions on the Fan Wall section of the website and interact with the team on our social networking pages such as Facebook and Twitter to discuss our latest news.

YouTube twitter Facebook

The Brawn GP Merchandise Store is also available and will allow you to order from the Henri Lloyd interim collection whilst we develop the full range ready for the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone in June.

Brawn GP starts European challenge in Spain

After four flyaway races in quick succession saw Jenson Button and the team achieve three race victories and the lead in the Constructors‘ Championship, the team begins its European challenge at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.

After such a fairytale start to the season, everyone at Brawn GP is looking forward to continuing the challenge in Europe. I know the track inside out and it feels very familiar to be heading back there for the start of the European season this weekend" says Jenson Button.

His team-mate Rubens Barrichello agrees, adding that The Circuit de Catalunya feels like a home circuit for the drivers with so much of our pre-season testing taking place here over the winter", whilst Team Principal Ross Brawn is confident that the Brackley factory worked hard enough to maintain the performance levels of the BGP 001 car. We look forward to seeing the results of our development work on track in Barcelona this weekend."

Brawn GPBrawn GPBrawn GPBrawn GPBrawn GP

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Spanish Grand Prix: Bridgestone Motorsport’s Friday Update

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Bridgestone’s soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on track at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona for the first day of the Spanish Grand Prix. In warm and sunny conditions, Nico Rosberg’s AT&T Williams set the fastest lap time in the afternoon practice session, a 1min 21.588secs. Track conditions improved throughout the day and 38 degrees Celsius was the hottest track temperature recorded. Brawn GP driver Jenson Button was the fastest driver in the morning session, using the soft compound to set a time of 1min 21.799secs. This was the first time that the current hard compound has been used in Barcelona, although this compound was previously used at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima – Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development What was significant about today’s running? “Today we saw the track improve a lot during the course of the day as the surface improved with rubber put down. In the morning it was interesting as Jenson Button set the fastest time using the soft compound, but Jarno Trulli was second fastest using the hard compound. The soft compound was on average 0.6 seconds faster than the hard here.”   How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend? “After one day’s running here we predict that the soft tyre could be the preferred tyre for qualifying as well as the race. Both tyres have performed well today. This is a different hard compound from the one we tested here in the pre-season, but teams have quickly learnt its characteristics. The hard tyre does take longer to warm-up than the soft, and its best lap time is slower. Some teams found the hard compound we used in the winter tests here difficult to warm up, however everyone was able to get reasonable grip today which means our compound changes have worked. The soft compound has not shown any particular issues with degradation so we would expect that to be the preferred tyre for the race.”

www.bridgestonemotorsport.com

WTCC: ROUTE TO: PAU FRANCE

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The 7th and 8th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place on the next weekend in France, on the historical street circuit of Pau. This is the championship’s third visit to the old city on the Pyrenées, home of the Grand Prix de Pau since 1930.
In 2008 Alain Menu and his Chevrolet Lacetti dominated the first race with a lights to flag victory after setting pole position, while the second race was won by BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus, who completed an amazing recovery after having rolled his car in qualifying at the infamous Monument bend.
Last year BMW obtained a double victory: Farfus encored in the first race, while Andy Priaulx scored his first and only victory of the season mastering his car under torrential rain that forced the field to start behind the safety car.
Like in Marrakech, the competitors will benefit from the street-circuit extended qualifying session. Saturday’s usual 30-minute qualifying will last 45 minutes: the 30-minute Q1 and the 15-minute Q2, split by a 5-minute pause.


WTCC cars negotiate the Virage de la Gare during last year’s event

CHEVROLET ON MAXIMUM COMPENSATION WEIGHT
Robert Huff’s and Nicola Larini’s victories in Marrakech will result in Chevrolet being given the maximum compensation weight in Pau.
The Cruze cars will receive a 40kg ballast like the turbodiesel SEAT cars and the BMW 320si cars, because it was the fastest in Morocco after having received technical help from the Touring Car Bureau.
The compensation weight for Pau has been determined by the lap times set in the three previous events (Brazil, Mexico and Morocco). The SEAT León TDI emerged as the reference model, one tenths of a second faster than the BMW 320si.
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.

LAUNCH OF THE WTCC RACE OF FRANCE
The WTCC Race of France was launched during a press conference at the city’s Chamber of Commerce attended by the reigning world champion Yvan Muller who reminded: "This year Pau is the only French city to welcome an automobile world championship."
The event also marks the 69th edition of the Grand Prix Automobile de Pau and Jacques Raynaud, vice-president of the Eurosport group commented: "Tradition is not something you can buy. You have to build it and keep it alive." While Marc Jubault-Bregler, town counsillor for the Environment confirmed: "Our aim is to develop and renew the Grand Prix in order to make it perennial."

CAZENAVE REJOINS WIECHERS-SPORT
Laurent Cazenave will rejoin the Wiechers-Sport team for his home WTCC meeting at Pau.
The 34-year old Frenchman will take the wheel of the German outfit’s second BMW 320si car, alongside Stefano D’Aste. This will mark his second appearance in the FIA World Touring Car Championship after last year’s debut at Pau.
In 2008 Cazenave used his racing experience on his home town’s streets to the utmost, claiming an outstanding victory in the Independents‘ class at the end of Race 1.
Now he is back, aiming for more: "This is a very difficult challenge. I know the car a bit from last year, however we will make a test on Thursday before the event at the Pau Arnos racetrack, because I wish to do the best I can."

WTCC T-SHIRTS FOR MOROCCAN CHILDREN
After the season’s opening in Curitiba, when 43 tonnes of food were collected through the ticketing campaign and donated to a charity society, the WTCC continued its program of social contribution activities.
On the occasion of last week’s Race of Morocco, Marcello Lotti, Managing Director of KSO, offered 2000 t-shirts to the Moroccan Ministry of Education. These clothes will be distributed to the children of Marrakech as a symbolic donation in order to associate the population in need with this first-ever successful FIA WTCC Race Meeting in Morocco.

www.fiawtcc.com

LOIX LEADS AFTER SS1 OF SATA RALLY ACORES

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IRC

The 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge resumed its fast and furious battle among the ’next generation‘ of top-flight rally cars and drivers today (Thursday) with the start of the Sata Rallye Azores. A total of 50 cars were flagged away from the ceremonial start in the Atlantic port town of Ponta Delgada, with this new event for the IRC promising a feast of action on its combined gravel and asphalt stages.
"This event is unique and in its way quite like the Monte Carlo Rally," said Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke. "The surface can change from one corner to the next, never mind from one special stage to another so it’s going to be a matter of holding on tight and being there at the finish."
Action got underway immediately with a crowd-pleasing superspecial stage which saw the contenders running two at a time in a gladiatorial start to the event. The biggest cheer of the night was for Meeke and his adversary, Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz, both in Peugeot 207 S2000s, who virtually dead-heated their run through the purpose-built amphitheatre.
Nevertheless it was Belgian veteran Freddy Loix – the current championship leader – who claimed the overnight lead after a spectacular performance on the 1.7km superspecial, edging out Meeke and Vouilloz in front of the much-fancied Skoda Fabia of Czech driver Jan Kopecky. The action continues with nine timed stages tomorrow and ends on Saturday evening after a final leg of eight special stages.
"We had quite a hard landing that damaged the car slightly, but I’m sure that there is nothing to worry about," said Loix, after setting the fastest time. "It was very close and I’m sure that’s going to be the case again tomorrow."
Finnish driver Juho Hanninen, who will start as car number one tomorrow in his Skoda Fabia S2000, concluded: "The stages are very tough but very nice. There’s really something for everybody on this rally and a lot of variety. One of the most difficult things will be adapting to the way that you can suddenly go from a very fast section to a slow and technical section. There’s a lot to get used to."
Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso, who finished the opening stage in sixth, agreed. "This is going to be a really difficult rally so we have to be realistic about what is possible," he said. "We obviously start every event with the idea of achieving as much as we can, but it’s also a question of being sensible and making sure we are there at the finish. We should know a lot more about how everything looks tomorrow."
The weather will also play a vital role. Although conditions remained dry today, there is a strong chance of some rain during tomorrow’s nine stages. The first stage, Feiteras, gets underway at 08:15. The action continues with nine timed stages tomorrow and ends on Saturday evening after a final leg of eight special stages.
Top 10 positions after Stage 1

1    Freddy Loix/Frédéric Miclotte    Peugeot 207 S2000    1m 45.0s
2    Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle    Peugeot 207 S2000    +0.2s
3    Nicolas Vouilloz/Nicolas Klinger    Peugeot 207 S2000    +0.3s
4    Jan Kopecky/Petr Stary    Skoda Fabia S2000    +0.4s
5    Juho Hänninen/Mikko Markkula    Skoda Fabia S2000    +1.4s
6    Giandomenico Basso/Mitia Dotta    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    +1.6s
7    Bruno Magalhães/Carlos Magalhães    Peugeot 207 S2000    +1.6s
8    Anton Alén/Timo Alanne    Abarth Grande Punto S2000    +2.6s
9    Ricardo Moura/Sancho Eiró    Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX    +3.3s
10    Fernando Peres/José Pedro Silva    Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX    +3.5s
Championship positions after 3 rounds
Drivers
1    Freddy Loix    Belgium    13 points
2    Sébastien Ogier    France    10
3    Giandomenico Basso    Italy    10
4    Carl Tundo    Kenya    10
5    Kris Meeke    UK    10
Manufacturers
1    Peugeot    36
2    Ralliart    26
3    Abarth    14
4    Skoda    5

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IRC series leader Freddy Loix heads the classification after the opening superspecial stage in the Azores

www.rally-irc.com

David Salom: PROXIMA PRUEBA – MONZA

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Este fin de semana vuelve el Mundial de Superbikes y nuestro representante mallorquín se desplaza hasta Italia para luchar de nuevo con los pilotos más rápidos del Campeonato del Mundo.
La quinta prueba del mundial de Superbikes se va a disputar este fin de semana en el Autodromo de Monza, otra de las pistas legendarias del calendario.
Lo que mas diferencia este circuito de otros es que su trazado permite ir con el gas a fondo durante buena parte de la vuelta. Con 5.793 metros de cuerda, cinco curvas a la izquierda y ocho a la derecha, y una recta principal de 1195 metros.
David Salom junto a su equipo, Team Pedercini, esperan poder encontrar el mejor "set-up" para esta carrera y acercarse un poco más a los puestos de cabeza.
Tanto el equipo como sus amigos y familiares esperan que las molestias de la muñeca derecha de David no aumenten y que la intervención, prevista para el próximo mes de Agosto, solucione esas molestias y permita a Salom dar el máximo sobre la moto.
Con un total de 12 carreras repartidas en estos próximos tres meses, el reto físico para David es evidente y este es el momento de luchar por mejorar los resultados y seguir evolucionando la moto para sacarle el máximo partido.

Departamento de prensa David Salom
Piloto Mundial de Superbikes
www.davidsalom.com
prensa@davidsalom.com
Avda. 16 de Julio, 34
Polígono Son Castelló
Palma de Mallorca
T. +34 971 291 321
M. +34 616 99 26 87