The 13th and 14th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place next week in the Czech Republic, at Brno’s Masaryk Circuit.
This is a traditional meeting for the championship, as Brno hosted the European Touring Car Championship from 2002 to 2004, and then the World Touring Car Championship from 2006.
BMW notched up six victories out of the eight WTCC races; only Chevrolet (Robert Huff won Race 2 in 2006) and SEAT (Gabriele Tarquini in 2008 Race 2) have managed to break the German cars‘ supremacy.
The 2009 meeting saw a domination of BMW Team Italy-Spain. Alessandro Zanardi won the first race while his teammate Sergio Hernández claimed his first WTCC victory in the second one. This year Hernández drives for Proteam Motorsport and is the current leader of the Independents‘ Trophy.
The WTCC will field 22 cars in the Czech Republic, with the addition of the race-by-race entries of Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) and Fabio Fabiani. The latter returns to the wheel of Proteam’s third BMW car that he drove in Monza earlier this year.
The WTCC returns to Brno for the fifth consecutive year
WINNING CARS STAY ON THE MAXIMUM WEIGHT
The championship’s winning cars: BMW 320si, SEAT León TDI and Chevrolet Cruze will stay on the maximum 40kg handicap weights at Brno, for the second consecutive event.
The compensation weight was determined by the lap times set in Belgium, Portugal and UK. According to this calculation, the SEAT and the Chevrolet equally share the "honour" of being the fastest cars, only two tenths faster than the BMW.
The Chevrolet Lacetti cars will again have 20kg deducted from their minimum weight, while the old BMWs have lost half of this bonus after Colin Turkington’s strong performance at Brands Hatch.
Compensation weight Brno
+ 40 kg BMW 320si, SEAT León TDI, Chevrolet Cruze LT
± 0 kg BMW 320si (with sequential gearbox)
– 10 kg BMW 320si (old model)
– 20 kg Chevrolet Lacetti
Turkington’s performance at Brands Hatch added 10kg to the old BMW cars
THE FIA ETC CUP THIS WEEKEND IN AUSTRIA
The FIA European Touring Car Cup resumes this weekend at the Salzburgring for the second race meeting of the season.
Four months after the opening event at Braga, Portugal, the competitors will race the 4.2km Austrian racetrack before facing another break before the finale at Franciacorta, Italy, on October 17th.
Reigning Super 2000 champion James Thompson is leading after the opening event at Braga. At the wheel of his Hartmann Racing Honda Accord, the Briton won the first Portuguese race from Tomas Engström and Kristian Poulsen. He grabbed a podium in the second race – won by César Campaniço – to take a slim lead.
Super 2000 Cup – standings : 1. James Thompson (Honda Accord) 16 points; 2. César Campaniço (BMW 320si) 15; 3. Kristian Poulsen (BMW 320si) 14.
In Braga both races of the Super 1600 class were won by Jens Löhnig ahead of his German countrymen Carsten Seifert and Florian Heitmeier.
Super 1600 Cup – standings : 1. Jens Löhnig (Ford Fiesta) 20 points; 2. Carsten Seifert (Ford Fiesta) 16; 3. Florian Heitmeier (Ford Fiesta) 12.