MENU AND PRIAULX SHARES VICTORIES
Alain Menu and Andy Priaulx won one race apiece in Oschersleben today. The Swiss driver gave Chevrolet their first victory on the German track, while the Briton scored his sixth win of the season and moved further ahead in the Drivers‘ Championship. In the two latest meetings, Priaulx has recovered 38 points from the leader Yvan Muller, reducing his gap to 11, and now he has also jumped ahead of Gabriele Tarquini (who has scored only 2 points in the three latest races) in second position.
The first race was a Chevrolet show. Rob Huff and Menu took control from the beginning, but the former was later black-flagged for hitting the poleman Augusto Farfus at the start. This enabled Menu to claim his first victory of the year from Farfus and Muller.
In Race 2, Priaulx dashed ahead of the SEAT pair of Michelisz and Nykjær and kissed goodbye to the rest of the field on his way to a solo flight. Farfus and Muller finished far behind him in second and third after Monteiro was given a drive-through for hitting both Nykjær and Michelisz.
There was a Danish domination in both the Rookie Challenge and the Independents‘ Trophy, with Nykjær and Kristian Poulsen twice victorious in the respective categories. In the second race they were also able to obtain their best results so far in the overall classification: Nykjær fourth and Poulsen sixth.
Chevrolet still keeps a solid 55-point lead in the Manufacturers‘ Championship ahead of BMW, while SEAT Customers Technology is only six further points adrift.
The championship will resume for rounds 17 and 18 at Valencia, Spain on September 19.

MASS PENALTY FAVOURS PRIAULX
15 drivers were awarded 30-second time penalties for exceeding the maximum speed of 90 kmh allowed during the rolling start of the first race.
They were: Coronel, Nykjær, Michelisz, Poulsen, Hernández, Barth, Gené, Engstler, Bennani, D’Aste, Romanov and Taniguchi. However, the only change in the race results concerns Coronel (who slips from fourth to sixth) and the pair Monteiro-Priaulx who gain one position moving up to fourth and fifth respectively.
In terms of Championship points, this reduced the gap between Muller and Priaulx from 13 to 11.

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Japanese racer Yukinori Taniguchi will replace Harry Vaulkhard at bamboo-engineering in the next three WTCC events at Oschersleben this week, Valencia and Okayama.
Team principal Richard Coleman commented: "While it’s sad to see Harry go it’s a great opportunity for us to work with Yukinori, his experience at the Okayama circuit will no doubt help us as a team when we get there."
Taniguchi made a brief appearance in the World Championship two years ago, when he raced at Monza and Okayama at the wheel of a JAS Motorsport Honda Accord car. Now he will be driving a bamboo-run Chevrolet Lacetti alongside Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young.
"I have been looking to drive in WTCC since 2008 and now I have this opportunity in a great team and car. Bamboo showed they are one of the fastest independent teams this season and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel," Taniguchi said.
Being sidelined because one of his sponsors pulled out, Vaulkhard commented, "I’m gutted, but my goal is to be back in WTCC for 2011 and I’m also working on other things for the remainder of the current season."

Yukinori Taniguchi takes over Vaulkhard’s Chevrolet from Oschersleben

THE CHAMPIONSHIP RESUMES AFTER SUMMER BREAK
The FIA WTCC resumes at Oschersleben after the traditional summer break and the title fights are on for the final four events of the season.
Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller continues to lead the standings on 199 points after scoring three victories this year. However, last time out in Brno, Muller endured his worst weekend of the season scoring no points and allowing his rivals to close the gap. Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini remains second just 5 points adrift after being consistently up the front in his SEAT León TDI with seven visits to the podium.
Andy Priaulx lies third, only 16 points behind the leader. The BMW ace has put in some fantastic drives to claim five victories, the most of any competitor this season, to keep in contention for the title yet again.
Britain’s Rob Huff is fourth and reduced his gap to Muller to 32 points after claiming his first victory of the season for Chevrolet in Brno.

In the Manufacturers‘ championship Chevrolet currently lead on 445 from SEAT Customers Technology on 405.

The battle in the Independents is also raging with Proteam’s Segio Hernández leading his team-mate Stefano D’Aste by 18 points. Darryl O’Young is just 28 points adrift.

In the Rookie Challenge, Fredy Barth and Norbert Michelisz have mostly shared the spoils this year. Barth took over the lead in the standings after Brno with 104 points, Michelisz is now 5 points behind and Michel Nykjær is third with a 31-point gap.

With just four events remaining – Germany, Spain, Japan and Macau – all titles are still firmly up for grabs in what looks set to be a thrilling end to the 2010 season.

The FIA WTCC resumes in Oschersleben for the final part of the season

YVAN MULLER TO MAKE WRC DEBUT
Chevrolet WTCC ace Yvan Muller will make his first World Rally Championship appearance on the occasion of the Rallye de France that will take place on October 1^st to 3^rd.
The 2008 WTCC champion will be at the wheel of Petter Solberg’s former Citroën Xsara, run by the Automeca team, his co-driver will be Gilles Mondésir.
"In the latest seasons I have been focusing on Touring Car racing. However I competed in different specialities during my career, including rally raid, ice racing and rally. And I am always in favour of new experiences. Long since I wanted to try rally at a top level and I am very happy that this plan for the Rallye de France is being fulfilled. It is also a good occasion for me to discover the roads of my native region the Alsace," Muller commented.

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Rounds 15^th and 16^th of the FIA WTCC will take place next week in Germany, at Oschersleben’s Motorsport Arena on September 5^th.
The German track, located in the Bode region some 30 km from the city of Magdeburg, is a traditional venue for the FIA Touring Cars having hosted the European Touring Car Championship from 2001 to 2004 and the World Touring Car Championship from 2005. The WTCC meeting is also one of the fans‘ favourites as it usually attracts large crowds.
Oschersleben is regarded as BMW’s home circuit. Not only because it is in Germany, but also because the BMW drivers have managed to win nine out of the twelve WTCC races held there so far, with Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus claiming three victories apiece. The Bavarian cars were only defeated at Oschersleben once by SEAT in 2007’s Race 1, when Yvan Muller scored the first win of the León TDI car.
Priaulx and Farfus shared last year’s glory, with the Briton coming first in Race 1 and the Brazilian winning Race 2.

The WTCC resumes next week at Oschersleben after the summer break

CHEVROLET EAGER TO WIN IN GERMANY
The Chevrolet team are facing the most difficult racetrack. Never so far a Chevrolet car has managed to win a WTCC race at Oschersleben. And yet the team come to Germany with the strongest determination to keep the lead in both the Drivers‘ and Manufacturers‘ championships. In view of the German event, Chevrolet spent three days testing in Magny-Cours.
"We have prepared well, and the test we made in Magny-Cours a couple of weeks ago was very useful to further fine-tune some technical options," explained the championship leader Yvan Muller, the only Chevrolet driver who won in Oschersleben, in 2007 when he was driving for SEAT.
Chevrolet Motorsport manager Eric Nève added: "For the first time we enter the final part of the season as leader of both championships. We are clearly determined to do well. Taking into account the transport times to Japan and China, the calendar is going to be extremely tight from now up until the end of the season. This is why it was extremely important to use the summer weeks to continue working and advancing in the development of the Cruze, and I am very happy with the work done so far by the team."

Chevrolet are looking to claim their first victory at Oschersleben

NO SUMMER BREAK FOR ROMANOV AND MICHELISZ
WTCC competitors Andrei Romanov and Norbert Michelisz did not stop their racing during the summer break.
The Russian driver dominated the event of the German ADAC Procar series at Lausitz’s Eurospeedway. At the wheel of a Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si, Romanov won both races under pouring rain.
Michelisz was invited to take part in the Lamborghini Trophy round on his home racetrack, Budapest’s Hungaroring; in the first race he completed a brilliant recovery from eighth to fourth, but then retired in the second race.

KEVIN CHEN TESTS FOR PROTEAM
Taiwan’s Kevin Chen completed his first laps in a WTCC car last Tuesday at Mugello, driving a Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si.
Chen – 31 years old from Taipei – will join the Italian team for the two final race meetings of the season at Okayama and Macau. This will mark Chen’s return to his racing roots, as he began his motorsport career claiming two US titles in the SCCA Regional Touring Championship, back in 2003 and 2004. After finishing runner up in the 2005 Show Room Stock Car Series he moved to single seaters, competing in the Formula V6 Asia (2007/08), GP Asia (2008/09) and British Formula 3 (2009).
"Kevin has a lot of potential, but he needs to test to get used to touring cars again. Our aim is to give him the chances to become competitive in view of his WTCC debut. Together we look forward at Okayama and Macau as the first step in view of a possible full time involvement in the 2011 WTCC," team principal Valmiro Presenzini explained.
Chen will test again this weekend at Magione, together with Fabio Fabiani who will make his third WTCC appearance of the year next week at Oschersleben.

Kevin Chen will race for Proteam Motorsport at Okayama ans Macau

MENU AND MULLER TO RACE IN BUENOS AIRES
Chevrolet WTCC drivers Alain Menu and Yvan Muller will take part in the 200 Km of Buenos Aires, a round of the Argentine TC2000 Championship, on November 7^th.
Muller and Menu will be at the wheel of Chevrolet Vectra cars run by the Chevrolet Elaion team, teaming-up with Guillermo Ortelli and Christian Ledesma respectively.
Chevrolet WTCC drivers have already taken part in the event; Menu won in 2006 and finished on the podium in 2007, 2008 and 2009, while Muller will make his first appearance.
Wayne Brannon, CEO of Chevrolet Europe commented: "For a global brand like Chevrolet, it is particularly positive to build bridges between the continents. This is true for motorsports porgrammes as in any other area. We are glad that the cooperation between our WTCC and TC2000 teams is going on this year too and we are sure that the presence of two great drivers like Alain and Yvan will be a plus for our brand in Argentina."

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The list of the heaviest cars for Oschersleben remains the same as for the two previous events in Brands Hatch and Brno. For the WTCC Race of Germany, the BMW 320si, SEAT León TDI and Chevrolet Cruze cars will carry the maximum 40kg handicap weight once again.
The compensation weight was determined by the lap times set in Portugal, UK and Czech Republic. According to this calculation, the Chevrolet Cruze is now the reference car, one and two tenths of a second faster than the SEAT and BMW respectively.
The Chevrolet Lacetti cars will again have 20kg deducted from their minimum weight as well as the BMW 320si equipped with the 6-speed sequential gearbox.
Because of Colin Turkington’s strong performance at Brands Hatch and Brno, the old BMW cars will carry 10kg of compensation weight in Oschersleben, meaning that they will be 20 kilos heavier than they were in Czech Republic.

Compensation weight Oschersleben
+ 40 kg BMW 320si, SEAT León TDI, Chevrolet Cruze LT
+ 10 kg BMW 320si (old model)
– 20 kg BMW 320si (with sequential gearbox), Chevrolet Lacetti

The Chevrolet Cruze emerged as the reference car for the compensation weight

O’YOUNG SHINES IN SEPANG 12 HOURS
WTCC regular Darryl O’Young has made full use of the season’s summer break to achieve a brilliant result in the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race which was held last Sunday at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
Sharing an Audi R8 LMS car with former Le Mans winners Frank Biela and Marco Werner, O’Young impressed, first by clocking the team’s fastest qualifying time and then helping the Audi Racing Experience Team Joest clinching second place on their Asian debut from fourth on the grid.

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British drivers won all today in Brno as Rob Huff took his first victory of the season for Chevrolet in Race 1 and Andy Priaulx scored BMW’s 50^th WTCC win in Race 2.
These results, joint with the bad luck that hit Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, meant a big leap forward in the championship classification for both, Priaulx and Huff
In Race 1, Huff claimed a lights-to-flag victory despite a short safety car period interrupting proceedings. He crossed the line ahead of reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini and his teammate Alain Menu.
In Race 2, BMW Team RBM’s Priaulx came from fourth on the grid to take an extra special victory at the place where he scored his first win for BMW back in 2003. Colin Turkington finished second after holding off the charge from Menu, who obtained his second podium finish of the day.
Yvan Muller did not score this weekend and remained on 199 points with Tarquini (who retired in the second race) now just 5 points adrift on 194. Priaulx lies third, only 16 points behind the leader, whil Huff is fourth and reduced his gap to 32.
Darryl O’Young, the young rookie from Hong Kong, dominated the Independents‘ category taking two wins. He has now closed the gap in the standings to Sergio Hernández who still leads. O’Young and Michel Nykjær shared victories in the Rookie Challenge that is now led by Fredy Barth.
The championship will resume after the summer break for rounds 15 and 16 at Oschersleben, Germany on September 5.

PENALTIES FOR THREE DRIVERS
The Stewards investigated three different incidents: two in Race 1 and one in Race 2.
Darryl O’Young was judged guilty of pushing Tiago Monteiro into a spin during the first race. He received a 30-second time penalty that dropped him from 8^th to 17^th and handed the Independents‘ victory to Kristian Poulsen.
The same penalty was imposed to Mehdi Bennani for a collision with Poulsen in Race 2. The Moroccan racer was therefore demoted from 15^th to 16^th.
Both O’Young and Bennani were also given a drop of 10-grid positions that will remain suspended for two and one events (respectively).
A drop of grid position was also awarded to Norbert Michelisz for the collision with Colin Turkington after the restart of the first race. In this case the penalty will be applied at the next race in Oschersleben.

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Britain’s Rob Huff (2:10.860) scored his first pole position since Macau last year making no mistakes on his final lap to finish 0.338s ahead of reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini (2:11.198) at Brno.
Colin Turkington will start as best of the independents in third overall for Race 1 in Brno, while Norbert Michelisz (2:11.436) topped the rookies in sixth overall.

Q1 – Rob Huff led the times as the WTCC cars were making steady progress during the first qualifying session until Fabio Fabiani continued his bad day ending beached in the gravel at T5 for the second time this weekend. The red flag came out as his car was moved out of danger while Gabriele Tarquini, Jordi Gené and Tom Coronel were yet to set a fast lap.
With 10-minutes remaining the session restarted and the field headed back on track. Huff remained at the top with Tarquini, Menu, Muller, Gené, Farfus, Turkington, Coronel, Michelisz and Nykjær going through into Q2.
Andy Priaulx (2:11.761) missed the cut by 0.011s from the Danish rookie with Tiago Monteiro (2:11.994) also struggling and qualifying in 14^th.

Q2 – The drivers left it late in the 10-minute session but it only took one flying lap for Britain’s Rob Huff to secure his first pole position of the season ahead of reigning champion, Tarquini. Turkington was the fastest BMW driver for the second time this season finishing in third overall, just 0.007s adrift of the Italian.
With the whole field only recording one quick lap each it was Augusto Farfus (2:11.260) to claim fourth position with Alain Menu (2:11.360) in fifth.
Michelisz and Nykjær were left to fight it out in the Rookie Challenge during Q2 with Michelisz coming out to qualify sixth and Nykjær (2:11.826) tenth.
Tom Coronel (2:11.528) fast lap was good enough for seventh ahead of championship leader Yvan Muller (2:11.542) and Gené (2:11.745).

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Everything is ready at Brno’s Automotodrom for the 13^th and 14^th rounds of the FIA WTCC that will take place on Sunday.
After 12 of the 22 rounds, Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller has built a leading margin of 23 points ahead of the reigning World Champion Gabriele Tarquini, while BMW’s Andy Priaulx lies third, a further 28 points behind.
"Brno is always a key moment in the season and a very pleasant event, although the track is quite abrasive and hard on tyres, especially for front-wheel drive cars," Muller commented. "I think we should be competitive, maybe more in qualifying than in race configuration, but we will see. The objective is to continue scoring heavy points. I am in the lead of the championship, but it is way too early to get excited about that. I know very well from previous years that the WTCC titles get decided on the last lap of the last race, so the best thing we can do for the time being is to bring home as many points as possible."
Track action for the WTCC competitors will start on Saturday with the first 30-minute free practice at 8.30. A second practice will follow at 12.00, with the Qualifying session taking place from 15.00, being split as usual in Q1 (20 minutes) and Q2 (10 minutes) with a 5-minute break in-between.

Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller leads the Drivers‘ Championship at mid-season

NYKJÆR BEATS THOMPSON IN THE FIA ETC CUP
WTCC regular Michel Nykjær dominated the third and fourth rounds of the FIA European Touring Car Cup that were held last Sunday at the Austrian Salzburgring.
The Danish racer, twice a winner of the ETC Cup in 2007 and 2008, won both races at the wheel of the very same SEAT León TDI he drives in the WTCC, beating the Honda Accord cars of pole sitter James Thompson and Tomas Engström.
"I was very disappointed with my qualifying, as in the rain I could not fight for the pole. But Sunday, on the dry track, I could really push to the maximum and my car had a very quick pace. Obviously my priority remains the WTCC, but I hope we can find the way to take part in the ETCC finale at Franciacorta," said Nykjær.
Carsten Seifert from Germany (Ford Fiesta) and Vojislav Lekic from Serbia (Honda Civic), won the Super 1600 and Super Production classes respectively.

Nykjær’s SEAT chased by the Honda cars of Thompson and Engström

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The 13^th and 14^th 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 17^th.
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.

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ONE APIECE FOR MULLER AND PRIAULX
Yvan Muller and Andy Priaulx claimed one victory apiece at Brands Hatch in two extremely close races that also launched Colin Turkington as the rising star in the WTCC heaven.
In Race 1 Muller and Rob Huff gave Chevrolet a 1-2 finish ahead of Turkington who managed to steal third place from Alain Menu’s third Cruze, while Gabriele Tarquini scored important points finishing fourth and Priaulx obtained an eighth place that eventually proved crucial for the rest of the day.
Priaulx won the second race starting from pole position on the reverse grid. Turkington made another step forward claiming a brilliant second place from Tarquini, with Muller in fifth.
After a difficult beginning to his home weekend, Priaulx jumped from zero to hero, recovering from a 10 position grid penalty that had demoted him to 16^th at the start of Race 1 to the highest step of the podium.
The championship fight is also very close. Muller leads with 199 points and has a margin of 23 over Tarquini, while Priaulx is a further 30 points behind. And Huff cannot be discounted, lying 69 points behind the leader.
Thanks to the 33 points he scored in the overall championship and the additional points for the category’s pole position and fastest laps, Turkingon made a giant leap forward in the Independents‘ Trophy. After only four races, the Ulsterman is second, 11 points behind Sergio Hernández.
Norbert Michelisz won both races in the Rookie Challenge and ousted Fredy Barth from the lead.
The championship will resume for rounds 13 and 14 at Brno, Czech Republic, on August 1^st.

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Volvo Cars has announced that Polestar Racing – Volvo Motorsport’s official partner – will take part in the FIA WTCC events at Brands Hatch and Okayama this year.
These participations will mark the first step towards a possible full time involvement by the Swedish Manufacturer in the world championship from 2011.
"We see WTCC now addressing its major obstacle for growth with the new engine regulations. At the same time we see several national championships starting to stray from the FIA S2000 regulations by several own counterproductive decisions and dispensations from a manufacturer perspective. We will remain focused on the improved FIA S2000 regulations used in WTCC. That is why we have given Polestar a green light to further evaluate competitiveness and challenged them to establish a financial and technical plan for WTCC for 2011, including a full FIA homologation of the current C30 car," commented Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Motorsport Commercial Director at Volvo Cars.
Polestar Racing entered one bio-ethanol powered Volvo C30 DRIVe for Robert Dahlgren, who is currently leading the Scandinavian and the Swedish Touring Car Championships.
"We are very happy Volvo Cars has made the decision to let us do Brands Hatch again and Okayama. We have done one World Touring Car Championship event per season the last two seasons to evaluate our car against the best. These two meetings will allow an even better evaluation," said Polestar Racing Managing Director Christian Dahl.
Because the Volvo C30 has been homologated on a national basis, it will not be eligible to score championship points in Brands Hatch and Okayama, according to art. 9. b) of the WTCC Sporting Regulations.

Robert Dahlgren’s Volvo C30 will race in Brands Hatch and Okayama

ROUTE TO: BRANDS HATCH, UK
The 11^th and 12^th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place next week at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, located 30 km South East of London. It is the fifth consecutive year the championship will have visited the Kent racetrack.
The WTCC races in Brands have often marked a first. In 2006 Race 1, Yvan Muller claimed his first success since he joined SEAT Sport, while in Race 2 Alain Menu gave Chevrolet their first WTCC win. In 2007 Race 2 Andy Priaulx obtained his first (and so far his only) WTCC victory on home soil.
Among the current WTCC drivers, Menu has won at Brands Hatch eleven times, four WTCC victories and seven racing in the British Touring Car Championship.
Since winning last year’s Race 1 on the Kent circuit, the Swiss racer has been unable to claim another victory and will definitely be looking to end his drought.
In 2009 the second race was won by BMW’s Augusto Farfus.

The FIA WTCC returns to Brands Hatch for the fifth consecutive year

"CACÁ" BUENO IN THE FOURTH CHEVROLET
Brazilian touring car star Carlos "Cacá" Bueno will join the Chevrolet team for the British event at Brands Hatch. The 33-year old from Rio will be at the wheel of the fourth Cruze car that was previously driven by Leonel Pernía in Monza and Vincent Radermecker in Zolder.
Bueno has built himself a solid reputation in South American touring car racing. In 1997, at the age of 21, he clinched the national title in the Stock Car’s Class B and two years later he was crowned champion of the South American Supertouring Nations Cup in a Peugeot 406. He then moved to Argentina and was classified 4^th in the 2001 TC2000 before returning to the Brazilian Stock Car championship in which he drove for Chevrolet, Mitsubishi and Peugeot, grabbing three titles (2006, 2007 and 2009) and finishing second three times (2003, 2004 and 2005).
"Cacá’s presence in Brands Hatch will be a great plus for the team in RML’s home race and will contribute to further raise interest for the WTCC in South America," commented Eric Nève, Chevrolet Motorsport Director.

Carlos "Cacá" Bueno will drive the fourth Chevrolet Cruze at Brands Hatch

THE RETURN OF TOM BOARDMAN
Tom Boardman will make his first WTCC appearance of the season at his home event in Brands Hatch driving a petrol-powered SEAT León car entered by SUNRED Engineering.
Boardman was a regular competitor in last year’s WTCC and claimed his first victory in the Independents‘ Trophy in Brands Hatch’s Race 2. This year he is competing in the British Touring Car Championship and currently lies 11^th in the standings.

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Local hero Tiago Monteiro and reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini scored one victory apiece in Portugal, making it a perfect weekend for SEAT Customers Technology.
In Race 1, cheered by his home crowd, Monteiro ended the monopoly of the three WTCC champions – Tarquini, Muller and Priaulx – who had claimed all the race wins from the beginning of the season. The Portuguese racer came back on the WTCC winning podium two years after another home victory at Estoril, resisting a final charge from Yvan Muller and Tarquini.
In Race 2, Tarquini put in a dominant performance, annihilating the rest of the field to achieve his fourth victory of the season. Muller and Rob Huff completed the podium after a breathtaking battle with Andy Priaulx, Augusto Farfus, Tom Coronel and Alain Menu.
Thanks to a couple of second places, Yvan Muller maintained his leadership in the Drivers‘ Championship. With Priaulx and Huff non-scorers in the first race, the Frenchman and Tarquini stretched the gap at the front.
Norbert Michelisz and Fredy Barth shared victories in the Rookie Challenge, while the Independents‘ Trophy saw successes for Sergio Hernández and Darryl O’Young.
The championship will resume for rounds 11 and 12 at Brands Hatch, UK, on July 18^th.

LAST UPDATE – HUFF STRIPPED OF RACE 2 PODIUM
Chevrolet’s Rob Huff was stripped of his third place in the second race following a Stewards decision.
The Briton was under investigation for two different incidents with Augusto Farfus, one in each of today’s races.
After hearing the competitors and watching videos, the Panel of the Stewards decided to impose Huff a reprimand for the first incident and a 30-second time penalty for the second one. The decision meant that Huff slipped from third to 22^nd in Portimão’s Race 2, while his teammate Alain Menu inherited third position.

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Tiago Monteiro claimed his first WTCC pole position since 2007 for his home event at the Autódromo Internacional de Algarve, today. The Portuguese driver recorded a quickest time of 1:55.372 despite an earlier collision with Andy Priaulx’s BMW and will start alongside Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller (1:55.425) on the front row for tomorrow’s Race 1 ahead of BMW’s Augusto Farfus (1:55.675).
Colin Turkington (1:56.698) ended the session tenth and top of the independents with Norbert Michelisz (1:55.991) in sixth as the best rookie.

Q1 – The drama started early on with local racer Monteiro colliding with Priaulx at T12 resulting in them both having to return to the pits before recording a flying lap. Priaulx was straight back out while the SR-Sport team did some fast work to repair the damage to rear right of Monteiro’s SEAT León TDI, getting him out with half the 20-minute session still remaining.
Gabriele Tarquini was provisionally quickest with a time of 1:56.097 as the final seconds saw a jostle for position. Priaulx improved to fourth to secure his place in Q2 as Muller, on the cusp of being knocked out, also improved to second in his Chevrolet Cruze. Michel Nykjær briefly moved into the top ten before being quickly demoted by Alain Menu on his final run.
Monteiro’s last lap moved him to the top of the timesheets on home soil ahead of the final shootout.
The top ten going through to Q2 were Monteiro, Tarquini, Muller, Huff, Farfus, Priaulx, Menu, Gené, Michelisz and Turkington.
The result confirmed reigning British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington as the best independent on his WTCC debut.

Q2 – In the final 10-minute session all the drivers left it late with only four minutes remaining as they recorded their first lap times.
Monteiro was flying, setting a fastest time of 1:55.372, which was not bettered in the final moments. Chevrolet’s Muller was just 0.053 seconds adrift in second place.
Rob Huff (1:55.934) was the only driver to make any real improvement on his time to jump up to fifth just behind reigning champion Tarquini (1:55.709) in fourth. As the final seconds ticked down the order was confirmed: Monteiro first, from Muller, Farfus, Tarquini, Huff, Michelisz, Gené, Priaulx, Menu and Turkington.

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BMW Team RBM’s Andy Priaulx (1:56.810) finished quickest in Portimão testing as the FIA WTCC prepares for its first ever event at the Autódromo Internacional de Algarve this weekend.
The WTCC drivers had their first taste of the 4.6km circuit in beaming sunshine this afternoon with Rob Huff’s last lap of 1:56.890 splitting the BMW’s at the top, demoting Augusto Farfus (1:56.890) to third.
Local hero Tiago Monteiro (1:57.149) finished fourth in the top SEAT León TDI for SR-Sport. Series newcomer Colin Turkington (1:57.189) made an impressive debut to finish fifth overall and top of the Independents in his eBay Motors BMW 320si.
Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller (1:57.191) and Alain Menu (1:57.376) were sixth and seventh ahead of SR-Sport teammates Jordi Gené (1:57.797) and Gabriele Tarquini (1:57821). Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young (1:58.172) rounded out the top ten putting in some strong lap times once again to finish as top Rookie and second in the Independents. His bamboo-engineering teammate Harry Vaulkhard (1:58.548) was 12^th overall finishing third fastest Independent and second quickest Rookie.
Scuderia Proteam Motorsport’s Stefano D’Aste only completed five laps before spinning at T7 and having to sit out the remainder of the session.

Andy Priaulx’s BMW was the fastest car during today’s test at Portimão

YOKOHAMA CELEBRATES 100^th WTCC RACE
The 10^th WTCC round in Portimão this weekend will mark Yokohama’s 100^th race as the championship’s Official Tyre Supplier since the Japanese company was appointed by the FIA in 2006. To celebrate the event, the WTCC cars sport a 100^th race logo on windscreen stripes and race number plates.
Mr Shigeo Komatsu, General Manager Tire Global Product Planning Division of Yokohama, commented: "We wish to express our sincere thanks to all the parties involved in the World Touring Car Championship, such as FIA, KSO, Eurosport, manufacturers and teams for their support. It is our great honour to celebrate our 100^th WTCC race in Portimão and we undertake to keep on supplying the WTCC with high quality tyres."
Marcello Lotti, General Manager of KSO, added: "Yokohama’s participation in 100 WTCC races shows the level of commitment of this valuable partner and the strong belief that they have in the continuous development of the WTCC. We are delighted to work with Yokohama in a successful partnership for both the commercial and technical aspects and we are also grateful to them because their involvement has led to a lot of interest, especially in Japan."

37,956 tyres (dry and wet) have been supplied by Yokohama to WTCC teams since 2006.

WTCC cars sport the Yokohama 100^th Race windscreen stripe

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The 9^th and 10^th rounds of the 2010 FIA WTCC will take place at Portimão next week.
This event marks the championship’s first visit to the modern Autódromo Internacional de Algarve located in Southern Portugal, which was inaugurated in 2008.
Among the many possible layouts offered by this impressive, state-of-the art venue, the FIA WTCC cars will run on the 4.6km racetrack for two 11-lap races.
In previous seasons the WTCC Race of Portugal was hosted alternatively by the Porto street circuit (in 2007 and 2009) and the Estoril permanent track (in 2008).
Action at Portimão will begin on Friday afternoon at 14.30, when the drivers will explore the new circuit in a 30-minute test session.

Yvan Muller’s Chevrolet during the winter test at Portimão

NO CHANGES FOR THE HANDICAP WEIGHTS
The handicap weights for the WTCC Race of Portugal remain the same as for the previous event in Zolder.
The Chevrolet Cruze and the SEAT León TDI remain the heaviest cars of the field and for the third consecutive race meeting they will carry the maximum compensation weight of 40 kg.
The compensation weight was determined by the lap times set in Morocco, Italy and Belgium. According to this calculation, the León TDI emerged as the fastest car, two tenths faster than the Cruze and half-a-second faster than the BMW 320si. The German cars have again been imposed 20 extra kilos for the Portuguese event.
The Chevrolet Lacetti and Kristian Poulsen’s BMW (an old model) will have 20kg deducted from their minimum weight.
Compensation weight Portimão
+ 40 kg SEAT León TDI, Chevrolet Cruze LT
+ 20 kg BMW 320si
– 20 kg Chevrolet Lacetti, BMW 320si (old model)

Once again the BMW cars will be 20 kg lighter than the Chevrolet and SEAT cars

CURRENT SUPER 2000 CARS WITH 1.6L TURBO
Following a proposal from the Touring Car Commission, the FIA World Motor Sport Council decided to adopt a new cost-controlling technical regulations to permit the adaptation of the current Super 2000 cars to the new 1.6L turbo engine in 2011.

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SEAT and BMW shared victories in Zolder, on the first ever visit of the FIA WTCC to Belgium that was blessed by a crowd of 23,000 despite a cold wind from the North.
Jordi Gené came home first in Race 1, but it was his team-mate Gabriele Tarquini who inherited victory after the Spaniard’s car failed to pass the technical checks because the air restrictor did not conform.
Chevrolet’s duo of Yvan Muller and Alain Menu completed the podium.
The second race saw one of Andy Priaulx’s famous solo escapes from the pole position on the reverse grid. The Briton rejected the assaults from Rob Huff and Tiago Monteiro and claimed a much-longed home victory for Bart Mampaey and his BMW Team RBM.
Thanks to the solid performances posted by their three top drivers, Chevrolet collected a great deal of points that enabled Muller to maintain his leadership in the Drivers‘ Championship (but Tarquini and Priaulx closed the gap) and the American brand to stay on top of the Manufacturers.
Norbert Michelisz achieved two wins in the Rookie Challenge – and also 12 further points in the overall championship. These results meant that the Hungarian youngster is now one point ahead of Fredy Barth in the Challenge.
Kristian Poulsen claimed his first victory in the Independents‘ Trophy, while point-leader Sergio Hernández won the second race.
The championship will resume for rounds 9 and 10 at Portimão, Portugal, on July 4^th.

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