ROUNDS 13 & 14 – PORTO
RACE 1 & 2 REPORT

SEAT AND BMW CLAIM ONE VICTORY APIECE

SEAT and BMW shared glory on Porto’s Circuito da Boavista, claiming one win each.
In the first race Gabriele Tarquini converted his pole position to a lights-to-flag solo flight ahead of Chevrolet’s Robert Huff and his own SEAT Sport team-mate Yvan Muller. The second race saw Augusto Farfus‘ deliverance after a black period, as the young Brazilian won the WTCC’s 100^th race from Muller and Rickard Rydell.
The weekend’s leitmotif was to survive the traps of the fast and infamous street circuit. Many drivers did not succeed and were caught in a number of spectacular crashes.
One who stayed out of all troubles was Yvan Muller, who finished on the podium twice and streched his leadiing margin. Tarquini is now 14 points behind him, while Farfus is one further point adrift. As a matter of fact the BMW Team Germany man seems to be the main threat for Muller in his attempt to maintain the world title.
The championship will resume on July 19^th at Brands Hatch, UK, for rounds 15 and 16.

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ROUNDS 13 & 14 – PORTO
QUALIFYING REPORT

TARQUINI BEATS HUFF FOR POLE POSITION

Gabriele Tarquini took pole in a tight session that saw six drivers qualify within three tenths of a second.
The Italian achieved a 2:.09.308 early in Q2 which was 0.087 better than Robert Huff’s second-place time. Yvan Muller will line up third with Andy Priaulx alongside him.

Q1 – Yvan Muller set the fastest lap in the final minutes of the session. His SEAT Sport companions Tiago Monteiro, Gabriele Tarquini, Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell joined him into Q2. The final minutes of Q1 were make or break for Zanardi who narrowly missed out on a Q2 place. The Italian was lying tenth until Rickard Rydell slotted into ninth. Despite a final attempt Zanardi could not promote himself to the next stage. Zanardi’s team-mate Sergio Hernández hit the wall after completing just 6 laps and did not continue in the session.
Jörg Müller was also denied a place in Q2 after setting the 12^th best time overall. Tom Coronel qualified 13^th to take the Independents‘ pole.

Q2 – Posting a fast flying lap early was the key to a successful Q2. The top four spots (Tarquini, Huff, Muller and Priaulx) were all taken at the start of the stage. All of the competitors returned to pits after three minutes with the exception of Menu who eventually qualified fifth. On returning to the track it was all to play for but spells of yellow flags meant progress was hindered. Priaulx was on a fast final lap and looked certain at a chance of pole until the last chicane where he lost the back of the car. Rydell also blew his chances of a higher grid position on his last lap by cutting the same chicane; the Swede will line up ninth ahead of Jordi Gené. Local driver Tiago Monteiro was one of a few to improve his time in the later stages of the session and took sixth position followed by Farfus (7^th) and Larini (8^th).

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Augusto Farfus topped the timesheet of today’s thirty minute private testing session. As the field had chance to re-familiarise themselves with the Porto track, the BMW Team Germany man completed a lap in 2:10.161 on his final attempt.
There was a surge of fast final laps with Chevrolet’s Robert Huff (2:10.590) and Alain Menu (2:10.840) posting the second and third best times. Despite a spell as the fastest Nicola Larini, in his Chevrolet Cruze, was eventually sixth quickest overall. Gabriele Tarquini was the fastest man in a SEAT sport car as he clocked a 2:10.886 with five minutes of the session left. His team-mate and local man Tiago Monteiro achieved the fifth best time (2:11.092). BMW duo Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx were seventh and eighth fastest followed by a pair of SEATs in the form of Rickard Rydell and Jordi Gené.
Tom Coronel and Stefano D’Aste were the leaders of the Independent category. D’Aste was 12^th fastest overall with a time of 2:12.099 but Coronel went three tenths of a second better to claim 11^th spot. However the Dutchman went straight on at turn 8 towards the end of the session and did not rejoin. James Thompson had gearbox troubles with his new LADA Priora which meant he had to return to the pits after just one lap. His team-mates van Lagen and Ladygin were 15^th and 21^st respectively in the old 110 cars.

Augusto Farfus set the fastest time in today’s testing at Porto

THE MAYOR OF PORTO VISITS THE PADDOCK
While the WTCC teams were getting ready for this weekend’s event, yesterday afternoon Porto’s Mayor Mr Rui Rio paid an official visit to the paddock of the Circuito da Boavista.
The Mayor was welcomed by WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti, the event promoter Vitor Ferreira of PA Leading, representatives of the Portuguese National Sporting Authority FPAK and local driver Tiago Monteiro.
After posing for the cameras of the local media inside the FIA hospitality, Lotti and Monteiro escorted the Mayor and press representatives along the pit lane to visit the teams‘ stands. Mr Rui was especially impressed when Monteiro showed him his SEAT racing cars.

LADA PRESENT NEW CAR AND DRIVER
The LADA Sport team held a press conference in the paddock today to unveil a new car and new driver. James Thompson will take to the wheel of the LADA PRIORA at Porto for its inaugural outing.
Alexey Sorokin Marketing Director for LADA Avtovaz commented : "From the very beginning of this season we have been working on the car. Each race helped us gather all the necessary information for our engineers. We hope our team will take a step forward."

WTCC APPOINTS PERMANENT SAFETY CAR DRIVER
Bruno Correia has been appointed as permanent safety car driver for the FIA World Touring Car Championship.
Correia, 32-years old from the Algarve region in Portugal, boasts a successful racing CV that includes titles in the Portuguese Formula Ford Championship (1994) and the Spanish Formula Renault 2000 Championship (1996). He also spent seasons in the Americas, taking part in the USA’s Formula Dodge Barber Pro-Series and becoming vice-champion in the Brazilian Superturismos. Last year he started acting as safety car driver for the Club ACDME at the Estoril and Algarve racetracks.
Correia was successfully tested during the WTCC event in Brno, where he performed a number of interventions in WTCC, F2 and the support races.

DOUBLE EUROPEAN CHAMPION JOINS WTCC
Michel Nykjær, double winner of the FIA European Touring Car Cup, will make his maiden WTCC appearance in Oschersleben.
"I can hardly believe that I will participate in a WTCC event. These are the guys that I watch on Eurosport and now I have the chance to test myself against them," said Nykjær, who won the 2007 ETCC at Adria driving a SEAT León and encored last year at the Austrian Salzburgring in a Chevrolet Lacetti.
"Our goal is to compete with the best independents and we hope that the races in Oschersleben may propel our team towards a full WTCC campaign," team manager Kent Bo Steffensen stated.
Chevrolet Motorsport Denmark’s priority for the current season remains the Danish Touring Car Championship in which their drivers Michel Nykjær and Henrik Lundgaard are currently placed second and third behind James Thompson.

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The 13^th and 14^th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place next week on Porto’s Circuito da Boavista.
This is the second visit the championship pays to this racetrack that winds along the streets of the Portuguese city and was revived in 2005, half-a-century since it hosted the Portuguese Formula 1 Grand Prix.
In 2007 – on WTCC’s first visit – Chevrolet and BMW shared the glory. In the first race Alain Menu led home a trio of Chevrolet Lacetti cars, followed by team mates Robert Huff and Nicola Larini. The second race saw a BMW double, with Andy Priaulx emerging as the winner ahead of Jörg Müller.
Next week the WTCC competitors will benefit from a 30 minute test session on Friday to re-discover the track; the only major change to the layout that was used two years ago concerns the infamous paddock chicane, which has been completely redrawn.

Two years later, the WTCC goes back to Porto’s Circuito da Boavista

JAMES THOMPSON JOINS LADA SPORT
Touring car ace James Thompson returns to the FIA WTCC joining the LADA Sport team.
Yesterday at Zolder, the 35-year old Englishman had his first test in the brand new LADA Priora he will drive in Porto next week. Thompson will replace team principal and driver Viktor Shapovalov in four of the remaining six events: Porto, Brands Hatch, Okayama and Macau, missing Oschersleben and Imola due to previous commitments. His team-mates Jaap van Lagen and Kirill Ladygin will also switch from the current LADA 110 to the new Priora from the meeting in Oschersleben on September 6^th.
Thompson boasts an outstanding WTCC record, having raced for Alfa Romeo, SEAT and Honda claiming 4 victories and 12 other podium results; in 2007 he classified third in the drivers‘ championship. He has started the current season competing in the Danish and the British Touring Car Championships, achieving four wins so far.
"I’m very excited to be back in the WTCC and I feel very privileged that LADA has asked me to be the first person to race their new car," said Thompson. "It’s a great challenge to be involved in a new project like this from the beginning and I am looking forward to it very much."

James Thompson tested the new LADA Priora in Zolder

WTCC TO RACE AT ZOLDER IN 2010
On Wednesday in Paris the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the calendar for the 2010 World Touring Car Championship.
The series will visit two new venues: Zolder and Algarve. The former that hosted one meeting of the FIA European Touring Car Championship back in 2001, replaces the French round of Pau and will mark WTCC’s return to Belgium after its only visit (at Spa in 2005). As for the new Portuguese racetrack, it will receive the championship for the first time, stepping in for Porto.
Other changes compared to the current season are the dates swapped between Italy and Spain (the name of the Italian venue that will host the first European event will be communicated soon) and the postponement of the Czech event to August 1^st.

YOKOHAMA CONFIRMED UNTIL 2012
Following an invitation to tender, the FIA World Motor Sport Council appointed the Yokohama Rubber Company to supply the control tyre for the next three seasons of the FIA World Touring Car Championship: 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The Japan-based manufacturer has been WTCC official tyre supplier since the 2006 season.

SEAT AND CHEVROLET ARE LIGHTER IN PORTO
The SEAT León Tdi and Chevrolet Cruze LT cars will benefit from a reduction of the compensation weight for the next event of the season in Porto.
According to the calculation that took into account the lap times set in the three previous events (Pau, Valencia and Brno) BMW remains the fastest model and will receive once again the maximum 40kg ballast. At the same time SEAT’s turbodiesel machines will run on the minimum weight fixed by the sporting regulations (1170 kg), while Chevrolet will be a further 10 kilos lighter, just like Alessandro Zanardi’s BMW 320si (the only one equipped with a sequential gearbox).
Both the SEAT León TFSI and the LADA 110 cars will have 20kg deducted from the minimum weight, while the newly homologated LADA Priora will be laden with the maximum ballast for its first two events in the championship.

Compensation weights Porto
+ 40 kg BMW 320si, LADA Priora
± 0 kg SEAT León TDI
– 10 kg BMW 320si Zanardi , Chevrolet Cruze LT
– 20 kg LADA 110, SEAT León TFSI

FASTEST CARS IN THE PREVIOUS EVENTS
Lap time calculation as per art. 79 Sporting Regulations
Curitiba: 1^st SEAT León Tdi; 2^nd BMW 320si (+ 0.252); 3^rd: Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.337)Puebla: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.419); 3^rd: BMW 320si GBS (+ 1.497)
Marrakech: 1^st Chevrolet Cruze LT; 2^nd SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.191); 3^rd: BMW 320si (+ 0.831)
Pau: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.579); 3^rd: SEAT León Tfsi (+ 1.002)
Valencia: 1^st SEAT León Tdi; 2^nd BMW 320si (+ 0.294); 3^rd: Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.965)
Brno: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd BMW 320si Zanardi (+ 0.393); 3^rd: SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.809)

PUYO IS THE SEAT CUP WINNER FOR PORTO
Diego Puyo has won participation in the next World Touring Car Championship races at Porto by winning the SEAT León Eurocup’s second event last Sunday at Brno.
On the Czech racetrack the 25 year-old Spaniard completed the first race in fifth position and won the second one, climbing on top of the standings.
Thanks to these results, Puyo will take the wheel of SUNRED Engineering’s third SEAT León at Porto, succeeding Tim Coronel who successfully drove it at Brno.

ARTISTIC LIVERY FOR MENU’S CHEVROLET
Chevrolet chose the Portuguese event to sport – on Alain Menu’s Cruze car – the special livery winner of this year’s ‚Young? Creative? Chevrolet!‘ pan-European contest.
Like in 2008, the brief in the visual arts discipline of Chevrolet’s competition for art school students was the design of a unique livery to be sported one-off by one of the WTCC cars.
The winning project comes from Belgium and was conceived by Britt Raes, from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent.

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The FIA World Touring Car Championship prepares to celebrate the 100^th race since the series in 2005 was launched.
The second race in Porto, on July 5^th, will mark this historical moment for the championship, four years and fifty race meetings after the inaugural event that took place at Monza on April 10^th, 2005. Since then, the WTCC has constantly grown, becoming more and more attractive and establishing itself as one of the most spectacular, competitive and fans‘ favourite motorsports series.

"We are delighted to celebrate this 100th race, which marks a milestone in the history of our championship. We would like to associate to this jubilee date all partners, sponsors, circuit promoters as well as media who have supported our series since 2005. Special tribute shall be paid to the manufacturers, teams and drivers who provide close battles at each race meeting, offering the fans spectacular and action-packed shows," Marcello Lotti, Managing Director of KSO said.

Figures say it all about the continuous attractiveness and loyalty to the WTCC.
Three out of the four registered manufacturers competing in 2009 were already there in 2005: BMW, Chevrolet and SEAT (LADA only joined the championship this year), while 10 out of this year’s 28 drivers have taken part in all the events from Monza 2005 to Porto 2009.

Since its creation, the WTCC has steadily progressed in all fields, consolidating its strong position alongside the two other FIA World Championships as well as increasing its popularity worldwide. Some of the latest developments this year proved that WTCC plays a pioneering and innovative role in spreading its appeal to fans around the world: from its first successful visit to Africa (Marrakech), to the switch to second generation bio-fuel. The WTCC has also become the first-ever FIA World Championship produced in native High Definition.

All these innovations contribute to the growing popularity and success of the FIA WTCC. As a result, in 2008, a new TV audience record was set with a reach of 350 million viewers around the world throughout the season. In addition, 675,000 spectators enjoyed the races on site.
Like its tagline "Real Cars, Real Racing" implies, the WTCC offers thrilling racing and close competition. This is the reason why more and more motor sport fans around the world become addicted to this championship.

"We are very proud of the tremendous work we have done in the past years with all stakeholders, and we are looking forward to further developing the WTCC. We are building history and future of the world touring cars at the same time!" concluded Marcello Lotti.

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ROUNDS 11 & 12 – BRNO
RACE 1 & 2 REPORT

BMW ITALY-SPAIN TAKE ALL IN BRNO

The BMW Team Italy-Spain won both the WTCC races at Brno, proving once again that they are the outfit to beat when the series visits the Czech Republic. Figures say it all, with four victories out of the six latest WTCC races on the Masaryk circuit.
Alessandro Zanardi encored his Race 1 success from last year, while his young Spanish team-mate, Sergio Hernández collected the baton in the second race and claimed his first WTCC victory.
BMW claimed a double win as it was expected, however the final outcome was not as rewarding as the German manufacturer hoped in terms of championship points.
As a matter of fact BMW’s best-placed drivers – Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx – collected only one point (Priaulx in Race 2), which enabled SEAT Sport’s Yvan Muller to further stretch his lead margin: 10 points ahead of Gabriele Tarquini, with Farfus a further two points behind.
As a partial consolation BMW cut the gap from SEAT to 8 points in the Manufacturers‘ Championship.
Félix Porteiro, of Proteam Motorsport, dominated the Independents‘ field, scoring a massive 44 points over the weekend and building a 26-point lead in the Trophy.
The championship will resume in Porto, Portugal, on July 5^th, for rounds 13 and 14.

www.fiawtcc.com – www.automotodrombrno.cz

ROUNDS 11 & 12 – BRNO
QUALIFYING REPORT

FARFUS SNATCHES HIS THIRD POLE

BMW cars will occupy the front row for tomorrow’s Race 1 as Augusto Farfus claimed first and Andy Priaulx second. With a time of 2:09.590 the Brazilian took his third pole position of the season. Alessandro Zanardi secured third place ahead of Chevrolet’s Nicola Larini. Rickard Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini were the only SEAT drivers to enter Q2 and they will line up fifth and sixth on the grid.

Q1 – It looked as though Jörg Müller’s opening gambit of 2:10.424 would equate to the fastest time but on the final lap Andy Priaulx beat it by a massive eight tenths of a second. SEAT Sport also had a surge in the dying minutes to ensure their presence in Q2. Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell made the top ten for the Spanish marque but in doing so knocked off team-mate Tiago Monteiro. Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller also narrowly missed the cut in 12^th and 13^th places. Alain Menu and Nicola Larini progressed to Q2 for Chevrolet but despite putting in his best lap at the end, Robert Huff could only manage the 14^th best time. Félix Porteiro snuck into the top ten, being the only Independent driver to do so.

Q2 – With the majority of the cars venturing onto the track late in the session it was all to play for in the final minute. In fact, with the exception of Jörg Müller, all the drivers‘ best times came from their last lap, and in most cases in was their only flying lap. Priaulx took provisional pole but Farfus bettered it by just four hundredths of a second. Zanardi, who has a very strong record at the Brno track, was 0.272 shy of pole position. Larini, Rydell and Tarquini ensured BMW did not dominate further than the top three. Jörg Müller will line up seventh ahead of Alain Menu, Sergio Hernández and Félix Porteiro.

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ROUTE TO: BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC
The 11^h and 12^h 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 eight victories out of the twelve races; only Alfa Romeo (Fabrizio Giovanardi’s double win in 2002), Chevrolet (Robert Huff won Race 2 in 2006) and SEAT last year have managed to break the German cars‘ supremacy.
The 2008 meeting saw BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi claiming pole position and dominating the first race from lights to flag. The second race was one of the most exciting ever in WTCC; Gabriele Tarquini was able to resist Zanardì’s attempt to achieve double victory by a very narrow margin at the wheel of his SEAT León TDI.
Their breathtaking fight was one of the highlights of WTCC’s past season.

The fight between Tarquini and Zanardi in last year’s Race 2 at Brno

24 HOURS FOR MONTEIRO AND CORONEL
Tiago Monteiro and Tom Coronel face a busy weekend as they will take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Monteiro will share an Oreca 01 AIM prototype with Brazilian youngster Bruno Senna and Stéphane Ortelli from Monaco; the car, run by the Team Oreca Matmut AIM, competes in the top LMP1 category against the likes of Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin.
Immediately before heading to Le Mans the team spent three days of testing at the Paul Ricard circuit: "It was useful to gain confidence. Driving at 300 kmh at night is not easy and requires specific practice. It is demanding but gives you a unique feeling. We know we won’t be on par with the diesel cars and our aim is to take the chequered flag with both cars. It is a realistic aim on my come back to Le Mans," Monteiro commented.
Coronel will compete for the LMGT2 category at the wheel of a Spyker C8 car run by the Snoras Spyker Squadron. His team mates will be his fellow Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen and Járek Jánis from the Czech Republic.
During the current season Coronel has already raced the Spyker at the Spa 1000 Km where he and Peter Dumbreck achieved a brilliant fourth position in the LMGT2 class.
After Thursday’s last qualifying sessions, the Oreca 01 of Monteiro-Senna-Ortelli achieved the 15^th position on the starting grid, while Coronel-Bleekemolen-Jánis placed their Spyker 11^th in class.

Monteiro between Senna and Ortelli during scrutineering in place des Jacobins

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The three leading model cars in the championship – BMW 320si, SEAT León Tdi and Chevrolet Cruze LT – will be given the same compensation weight for the next event of the season in Brno.
According to the calculation that took into account the lap times set in the three previous events (Marrakech, Pau and Valencia) the BMW remains the fastest model and will receive again the maximum 40kg ballast for the races in the Czech Republic. However the Chevrolet and the SEAT Tdi are within the 0.3 second threshold (with gaps of 0.1 and 0.2 seconds respectively) and therefore will carry the same compensation weight.
As for the other cars, Alessandro Zanardi’s BMW 320si (the only one equipped with a sequential gearbox) has no compensation weight, while the SEAT León TFSI and the LADA 110 have 10kg and 20kg deducted from the minimum weight respectively.

Compensation weights Brno
+ 40 kg BMW 320si, Chevrolet Cruze LT, SEAT León TDI
± 0 kg BMW 320si Zanardi
– 10 kg SEAT León TFSI
– 20 kg LADA 110

BMW, Chevrolet and SEAT are all on the maximum compensation weight

FASTEST CARS IN THE PREVIOUS EVENTS
Lap time calculation as per art. 79 Sporting Regulations

Curitiba: 1^st SEAT León Tdi; 2^nd BMW 320si (+ 0.252); 3^rd: Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.337)
Puebla: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.419); 3^rd: BMW 320si GBS (+ 1.497) Marrakech: 1^st Chevrolet Cruze LT; 2^nd SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.191); 3^rd: BMW 320si (+ 0.831)Pau: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.579); 3^rd: SEAT León Tfsi (+ 1.002)Valencia: 1^st SEAT León Tdi; 2^nd BMW 320si (+ 0.294); 3^rd: Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.965)

GENÉ JOINS VILLENEUVE AT SPA
SEAT Sport’s Jordi Gené will join 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and touring car specialist Pierre-Yves Corthals to compete in this weekend’s Spa Francorchamps 12 Hours, counting towards the Belgian Touring Car Series.
They will share driving duties at the wheel of a SEAT León Supercópa backed by SEAT Belgium. "The challenge of racing at Spa is tremendously appealing since it’s one of the world’s best circuits. And it will be a pleasure to team with Jacques Villeneuve; we know each other since the years we were racing in Formula 3 and recently he was my brother Marc’s team-mate at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Our goal is having fun and, possibly winning our category," said Gené.

Jacques Villeneuve, Jordi Gené and Pierre-Yves Corthals team at the Spa 12 Hours

WTCC DEBUT FOR TIM CORONEL AT BRNO
Tim Coronel is the first driver of the season to be awarded WTCC participation thanks to his results in the SEAT León Eurocup.
The 37-year old Dutchman was classified third and fourth in the two races of the series‘ opening meeting that took place last week in Valencia and won participation in the next WTCC event, on June 21^st at Brno.
At the Czech track, Tim Coronel will drive a petrol-powered SEAT León car run by the Spain-based SUNRED Engineering, joining the team’s regular drivers: Tom Boardman and his own twin brother Tom Coronel.
Although the Coronels have shared the same car in this year’s Dakar Rally, this is the first time they are team-mates in recent years.

MENU TO RACE AGAIN IN ARGENTINA
Alain Menu will take part in three events of Argentina’s TC2000 Championship, at the wheel of a Vectra run by the Chevrolet Elaion team.
The TC2000 includes in its calendar three long distance events that, besides awarding points for the championship itself, count towards a new trophy named "Copa Endurance".
In these three events – the 200 km of Termas de Río Hondo (14^th June), the 200 km of Buenos Aires (16^th August) and the 200 km of Potrero de los Funes (29^th November) – Alain Menu will share driving duties with Guillermo Ortelli, while the second Chevrolet Elaion’s Vectra will be in the hands of Christian Ledesma and Juan Ignacio Cáceres.
Menu is not new to the TC2000, as he already joined Chevrolet’s Argentinean team in five editions of the 200 km of Buenos Aires, winning in 2006 together with Matías Rossi and finishing on the podium on three other occasions.

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  by Wolfgang LINDNER

more Pictures:

http://www.automobilsport.com/banner/fia-wtcc-valencia-photos-2009/fiawtcc-valencia–.html

ROUNDS 09 & 10 – VALENCIA
RACE 1 & 2 REPORT

SEAT AND BMW SHARE THE SPANISH GLORY

SEAT and BMW dominated one race apiece in the fifth event of the season.
The turbodiesel León cars filled the four top positions in the first race, marking a triumphant moment for SEAT in their home race meeting. Yvan Muller scored his third victory of the season making it clear that it won’t be easy for anybody (including his own team-mates) to deprive him of the World Champion’s crown.
However, in the second race, Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller managed to overturn the situation. The BMW Team Germany duo claimed a 1-2 of crucial importance for the German Manufacturer, as it not only marked BMW’s first victory so far this year, but also re-launched their hopes in the title fight that now sees Farfus lying second, only three points behind Muller.
Chevrolet’s winning streak came to an end after four consecutive successes in Marrakech and Pau. The Spanish weekend was not positive for the drivers of the Cruze cars who all remained out of the points. As for LADA, their hope of making a step forward with the new engine were totally hindered by a number of technical issues.
In the Independents‘ Trophy, Stefano D’Aste obtained his first victory of the season, but the fight for the title seems to be an affair between Tom Coronel (winner of the first race), Félix Porteiro and Franz Engstler who are covered by only two points.
The championship will resume in Brno, Czech Republic, on May 21^st, for rounds 11 and 12.

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Gabriele Tarquini’s last qualifying lap secured him pole position for tomorrow, the first since Oschersleben 2007. It was a successful qualifying for SEAT at their home track as they claimed the top four grid spots (Tarquini, Yvan Muller, Jordi Gené and Tiago Monteiro).
A flurry of action at the end of Q1 saw BMW drivers; Jörg Müller, Alessandro Zanardi Sergio Hernández and Andy Priaulx denied a place in Q2.

Q1 – While Muller had the fastest time for the majority of the session it was his SEAT Sport team-mate Rickard Rydell who bettered him towards the end. Rydell’s lap of 1:45.424 was 0.092 quicker than Muller’s while a third SEAT man, Monteiro, went through to Q2 as third fastest (1:45.542). Fourth fastest was Augusto Farfus, the only BMW to make the cut.
All three of the Chevrolet drivers entered Q2. Alain Menu was the fastest with a time of 1:45.681 followed by Nicola Larini who was seventh (1:45.854) and Robert Huff (1:46.038) who was tenth and used his last lap to knock Jörg Müller out of the Q2 running. Jordi Gené and Gabriele Tarquini also went into Q2, as sixth and eighth, while Tom Coronel went through as ninth and the only independent driver despite joining the session late due to starter motor problems.

Q2 – While the Chevrolet cars waited in the garage, SEAT Sport’s cars hit the attack straight away. However, it was in fact Tarquini’s last lap of 1:44.414 that gave him pole position. With this, Muller was demoted to second on the grid while Gené and Monteiro filed in third and fourth. Farfus posted a time of 1:45.080 mid way into the session which secured him fifth position, ahead of Chevrolet man Menu (1:45.314). The Chevrolet cars hit the track with time for two flying laps – Huff qualified eighth and Larini tenth.
The remaining two positions went to Rydell in ninth (the Swede spoiled his last attemp running wide well beyond the kerbs) and Coronel who put in a fantastic last lap to secure seventh.
However, the Dutchman eventually had his Q2 times disallowed after his car was found to be underweight during the technical checks.

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The LADA 110 2.0 cars have been updated for this week’s event in Valencia. The three Russian machines are now powered by a new engine, which is due to deliver some more horsepower.
The team are also hoping that they can take advantage of the compensation weight system to maximise every opportunity over the Spanish weekend.
Jaap Van Lagen commented: "I’m very much looking forward to these races and hopefully we can put some of the bad luck behind us now. I’ll be very interested to see how much of an effect the new engine has here, but the main thing is that we are obviously making progress."
Team principal Viktor Shapovalov added: "We had a very busy couple of weeks after Pau, as there was a lot of work to do in order to repair the cars and test the new engine. Now everything is ready and we can concentrate on doing a good job on what is generally a more conventional circuit than the last two we have visited. The most important thing is to have a clean weekend in order to put us in a strong position to capitalise on any chances that come our way."

The LADA Sport cars benefit from a new engine in Spain

PROMOTER’S COMMENTS ON THE EVE OF VALENCIA
On the eve of the fifth event of the season in Valencia, WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti answered a few questions.
The previous event in Pau was troubled by never-ending technical checks on the engine speed and supercharged air pressure limits. This had never been done before, why did the Stewards decide to ask for these checks in Pau?
"The situation after Marrakech left the FIA no other choice but to adopt the most rigorous approach in enforcing the existing regulations. However, after the event in Pau it became clear that it was not in the interest of the competitors to put the rule maker and referee of WTCC, the FIA, in such a position. Instead, all agreed to ask the FIA to clarify the rules."
Before Valencia the FIA Technical Department and the FIA Touring Car Bureau issued documents clarifying the engine speed limit and increasing the limit of the supercharged air pressure for the diesel engines to 2.7 bar relative. Another change of regulations then?
"Not at all. As it was clearly indicated these were clarifications of the existing regulations. Before the beginning of the season the FIA fixed the limit of the supercharged air pressure to 2.5 bar relative, a value that was to be adjusted taking into account the outside air pressure and temperature. This resulted in 2.5 bar in Puebla and 2.9 in Marrakech. Now, using the experience from the first four events of the season, the FIA was able to fix a new limit which is due to stay – without fluctuations – until the end of the season. We are confident that this, together with the compensation weight system, will actually balance performance on the track and ensure the close racing we all want to see."

FASTEST CARS IN THE PREVIOUS EVENTS
Lap time calculation as per art. 79 Sporting Regulations

Curitiba, BRA: 1^st SEAT León Tdi; 2^nd BMW 320si (+ 0.252); 3^rd: Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.337)
Puebla, MEX: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.419); 3^rd: BMW 320si GBS (+ 1.497) Marrakech, MAR: 1^st Chevrolet Cruze LT; 2^nd SEAT León Tdi (+ 0.191); 3^rd: BMW 320si (+ 0.831)
Pau, FRA: 1^st BMW 320si; 2^nd Chevrolet Cruze LT (+ 0.579); 3^rd: SEAT León Tfsi (+ 1.002)

www.fiawtcc.com

El Mundial de Turismos FIA WTCC vuelve al Circuit los días 30 y 31 de mayo junto a la Formula 2, la Seat Eurocup, la Copa Abarth y la Formula Master en un apasionante fin de semana de carreras con entrada gratuita.

http://www.circuitvalencia.com/

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