Another WTCC weekend turned into a triumph for Chevrolet, as Yvan Muller and Rob Huff shared victories at Curitiba. This means that 13 races out of the 16 held so far have been won by the blue Cruze cars.
In the first race Muller started from pole position and led home Alain Menu and Huff, while Gabriele Tarquini had to settle in fourth position after he trying in vain to disrupt the Chevrolet trio at the start.
The Italian ace was close to perform a miracle in the second race. For a few laps he led, managing to resist Huff’s pressure. Eventually Tarquini had to surrender, losing also second place to Menu. But at least he claimed a well deserved third position ahead of Muller.
The Frenchman has maintained his championship lead and lost onlyone point to Huff, who trails by 17. Menu is third a further 20 points adrift. But with 220 points still at stake in the remaining four events, anything may happen among them.
In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Chevrolet leads by 243 points and it’s just one step away from a third consecutive world title. Behind the bow tie brand, BMW and SEAT are split by five points only.
Michel Nykjær was the hero of the Yokohama Trophy. On his WTCC comeback and first races with bamboo-engineering, the Dane won the Race 1 and was second in Race 2. He also collected two brilliant overall results: fifth and sixth, better than his Swedish team-mate Rickard Rydell at Monza earlier this year.
Norbert Michelisz won the second race and this was a crucial result that enabled him to jump on top of the trophy standings, five points ahead of Pepe Oriola who received a time penalty in Race 1 and retired with an engine problem in Race 2.
The championship takes now a long summer break, while cars and parts are being shipped to USA. Rounds 17 and 18 will take place at Sonoma on September 23.

Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba – 20 / 22 July 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.autodromodecuritiba.com.br

The Chevrolet Cruze cars completed a clean sweep in today’s qualifying at Curitiba. As it was expected Yvan Muller, Alain Menu and Rob Huff monopolized the top three positions, and Michel Nykjær provided the icing on the cake grabbing fourth place on his WTCC comeback.
Just like he had done in the two free practice sessions, Muller was able to go faster than his two team-mates and claimed his third pole position of the season.
Called in at the last minute to replace Pasquale Di Sabatino at bamboo-engineering, Nykjær cproved that he still knows how to be competitive in the WTCC and stole fourth position from Gabriele Tarquini with an impressive last lap in Q2.
For the whole day Tarquini had tried to chase the Chevrolet trio. However, the Italian driver spoiled his first lap in Q2 by driving too wide at the last turn and had to pit for new tyres. This might have jeopardized his chances of achieving a better result than fifth, just ahead of Alex MacDowall and Darryl O’Young.
None of the BMW drivers was ever able to fight for top positions, but eventually Norbert Michelisz and Tom Coronel qualified tenth and ninth, meaning a full BMW front row on the reversed grid for Race 2.

Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba – 20 / 22 July 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.autodromodecuritiba.com.br

After a long six week break the FIA World Touring Car Championship kicks back into action this weekend with the first of the flyaway races as the cars and drivers head to Curitiba, Brazil for the eighth round of the 2012 season. For the Arena run Team Aon squad, along with drivers Tom Chilton and James Nash, this marks the first time they will have raced at the Brazilian track.

Entering the WTCC for the first time in 2012, Team Aon have already made headway as they look to develop the Global Ford Focus while also racing in the highly competitive series. Having picked up a string of solid results, Chilton and Nash look to Curitiba with confidence after two positive test days at British race track Snetterton earlier this month.

The relatively short Curitiba track features a mixture of high to medium speed corners with a long 1km start/finish straight. This will offer the greatest overtaking opportunity of the lap as the cars have the chance to line up behind one another after the tricky Curva da Vitoria final corner.

Team Aon have been using the time since Portugal to work on the development of the Global Ford Focus. Two test sessions at Snetterton have proved valuable to the team; working on a variety of aspects to the car before heading to yet another brand new circuit as the 2012 season continues with the flyaway races.

Looking ahead to the challenges of another new track Tom Chilton said, ‘Since Portugal we’ve had two very positive test days at Snetterton where we’ve been able to learn a lot more about the car’s engine, suspension and aero package which stands us in good stead for this race and the rest of the season.

‘I’ve never been to Brazil before but I’m looking forward to the challenges of a new track and I’m excited to get back out racing after the long break since the last round. From what I’ve seen of the circuit the final corner looks as though it could be a challenge for the tyres but we won’t really know more until we hit the track on Friday.’

Team mate James Nash added, ‘I can’t wait to get back into competition. While I’ve been really busy with PR and Sponsor work, and a lot of simulator work there is no substitute for getting behind the wheel of a racing car in competition. Since the last event in Portugal the team have been busy testing some developments for the Ford Focus, so I can’t wait get on track again and see what steps forward we’ve made.’

Team Aon

The FIA World Touring Car Championship will resume next week after a 50-day break, when rounds 15 and 16 takes place at Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba, Brazil.
This will be the seventh time the 3.7 km circuit that lies on a plateau 900 metres above the sea level, has hosted the WTCC. After having been the championship opener from 2007 to 2011, the Brazilian event has been put off to the mid season, just like it happened on the world championship’s first visit back in 2006. And this means that competitors will have to cope with wintry weather conditions.
Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini are the most victorious drivers here, with three race wins apiece. Speaking of Manufacturers, SEAT claimed six victories against three for BMW and Chevrolet. The latter was victorious in three out of the last four races, including a double success in 2011 with Rob Huff in Race 1 and Alain Menu in Race 2.
After sharing last year’s event with the Brazilian Stockcar championship, this year the WTCC is staged together with the Copa Petrobras de Marcas. Now on its second season, this category is reserved for saloon cars that are close enough to the WTCC’s for technical concept and performance.

SEAT AND BMW LOSE 30 KILOS FOR BRAZIL

The SEAT León WTCC and the BMW 320 TC cars will benefit from a significant weight reduction for the next event at Curitiba.
Both these models will be 30 kilos lighter than they were in Portimão.
The Chevrolet Cruze remains the reference car according to the calculation based on the lap times set in the three previous events (Hungary, Austria and Portugal) and will be laden once again with the maximum 40kg ballast.
The BMW 320 TC cars will have only 10 extra kilos on board, while the SEAT León WTCC will run on their minimum weight.
Once again the Ford Focus and SUNRED León 1.6T cars will benefit from a 20kg reduction of their minimum weight.

Compensation weight Curitiba
+ 40 kg : Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
+ 10 kg : BMW 320 TC
± 0 kg : SEAT León WTCC
– 20 kg : Ford Focus S2000, SUNRED León 1.6T

GÁBOR WÉBER TO SKIP BRAZILIAN EVENT

The Zengö Motorsport team have shipped only Norbert Michelisz’s car to Brazil. Therefore Gábor Wéber will not take part in the races at Curitiba.
“Entering a second car has been a huge achievement and a great opportunity for the team. We knew from the start that funding Wéber’s overseas races was problematic. We managed to buy the car at the last moment, which didn’t make things easier. Wéber has been through a difficult period as he had to adapt to WTCC without any testing. I hope he may rejoin soon,” team manager György Juni explained.
Wéber who managed to score championship points at the Slovakia Ring and Hungaroring commented: “We decided to skip Brazil for budget reasons. We need new sponsors and we are still working on that. It has been a valuable experience, especially adjusting myself to rear-wheel drive after years of racing front-wheel drive cars. Motor sport at this level is not forgiving; I made a few mistakes, had some bad luck, but all in all I felt getting better with every weekend and being seventh in qualifying at Portimão was a good way to finish the European season. My plan is to continue in WTCC, maybe even this year, but the main goal is to race a full campaign in 2013.”

YVAN MULLER GOES TO SAN FRANCISCO

On his way to Curitiba, Yvan Muller will stop over at San Francisco to take part in another event set to promote the WTCC Race of USA that will take place at Sonoma on September 23.
Next Monday at 11.30 local time, the reigning champion, Chevrolet Motorsport Manager Eric Nève and the President of Sonoma
racetrack Steve Page will appear in a press conference on the steps of California State Capitol. Muller’s Chevrolet Cruze racing cars will be exhibited on the spot.
A session of one-to-one interviews with representatives of local media will follow. Race fans are also welcome to attend.
In the afternoon Muller will appear in the popular weekly motor-sports show “Race Week” on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and later he will be interviewed by Kron-TV San Francisco.

EUROSPORT TV PROGRAMMES FROM CURITIBA *

Saturday, 21 July – 21.00/21.45 : Qualifying LIVE on Eurosport 1
Sunday, 22 July – 15.00/15.30 : Warm Up on Eurosport 1
Sunday, 22 July – 19.45/22.00 : Races 1 & 2 LIVE on Eurosport 1
Thursday, 26 July – 01.00/01.30 : Inside WTCC on Eurosport 1

* all times CET

WTCC DRIVERS SHINE IN OTHER SERIES

A few WTCC drivers did not stop racing in spite of the long break between Portimão and Curitiba. They tried different categories, and with a certain success.
Darryl O’Young returned to Algarve to claim fourth position in the FIA GT1 race at the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo he shared with former FIA European Super Production champion Peter Kox.
Yvan Muller covered 1600 kilometres commuting between Le Mans and Tours to take part in the Le Mans Classic and the Euro Racecar Series on the same weekend. Driving Chevrolet cars, the Frenchman pocketed two podiums: third in the GT class at Le Mans in a 1971 Corvette Stingray and third at Tours in a Camaro.
Norbert Michelisz raced once more on his home soil for the Superstars event at Budapest, where the young Hungarian drove his BMW M3 to second in qualifying and third in Race 1.

www.fiawtcc.com

The vessel Santa Caterina called yesterday at Santos’ harbour, nearby São Paulo, at the end of a 13-day Atlantic crossing from Antwerp. Part of her shipload consisted of twenty-six containers holding the WTCC cars and parts.

After the unloading and the completion of custom formalities, the containers will be loaded onto flatbed trucks and transported to the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba, located in Pinhais, in the State of Paraná.

The final leg of this long journey from Europe to Brazil will consist of nearly 420 km southbound, mostly along the Rodovia Régis Bittencourt SP-160.

The convoy of trucks is due to arrive at Pinhais by next Friday.

BRANDON KRAUS HOPES TO JOIN AT SONOMA

Brandon Kraus, the winner of the 2011 United States Touring Car Championship, is currently in negotiations with Proteam Racing as he wishes to take part in the WTCC American event at Sonoma in September.
It was at the Sonoma circuit that Kraus secured the 2011 USTCC title and the Californian driver is looking forward to the WTCC visiting his home track for the first time.
Earlier this year, Kraus visited the WTCC opening event at Monza and on that occasion he had the opportunity to drive one of Proteam’s BMW 320 TC cars.
The test was part of an agreement between championship promoters Marcello Lotti (WTCC) and Ali Arsham (USTCC).
“It was really good out there. The WTCC cars are really something! I’m talking to a few sponsors and see if I can get a ride at Sonoma. I’m addicted!” Kraus said.

www.fiawtcc.com

Chevrolet announced today that their factory commitment in the World Touring Car Championship will be halted by the end of the current season, following a strategic review of motorsport and marketing programmes.

The American manufacturer had joined WTCC from the championship’s maiden year back in 2005 with the Lacetti model car; they switched to the Cruze in 2009, winning twice the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles in 2010 and 2011. The Chevrolet team are currently close to secure a third consecutive victory in both championships.

“We thank Chevrolet for supporting the WTCC over the last eight years. They joined from day 1 after they decided to make Chevrolet a global brand outside the US. They have been consistent, successful and actively used WTCC international platform to activate their network and build-up the brand profile. We very much mutually benefited from each other. We fully respect their decision and will keep on developing WTCC as an efficient promotional platform,”
said Olivier Fisch, Managing Director of Eurosport Events.

Susan Docherty, President and Managing Director of Chevrolet Europe declared: “We are extremely proud of the two double world titles we have won. The WTCC has been a powerful brand platform and showcase for Chevrolet in Europe and markets throughout the world.”

WTCC General Manager Marcello Lotti commented: “This is motorsport! Manufacturers come and go. It happens to all the series every now and then, but life goes on. We now say goodbye to Chevrolet that has been a precious partner for what an unusual long period for a motorsport programme, but at the same time we welcome Honda’s arrival and are in negotiations with a few other car makers interested to join.”

In spite of the factory programme being stopped, it is quite likely that the Chevrolet brand will be represented by customer teams in the next season.

www.fiawtcc.com

The most recent World Touring Car Championship event in Portimao, Portugal, marked the end of the European season; up next for the Arena-run Team Aon squad are the challenges of the long haul events. But it’s not just the new tracks and jet-leg that the team has to contend with. Getting the cars, spares, garage equipment and even the personnel to the races is just as challenging.

At the workshop in Littlehampton the team has been working non-stop since arriving back from the Algarve as they get everything prepared and ready for the cars to be loaded as they head off to Holland before they’re packed away and shipped to Brazil ahead of the next round of the championship. We spoke to the team’s Race Truckies Peter Harris, Colin Hide and Greg Senior to find out what it takes to transport an entire WTCC race team across the world.

‘Of course it’s a challenge’ says Hide, ‘before we do anything we sit down as an entire group and go through everything that needs to be loaded, when it needs to be loaded and how were going to go about that. More often than not things crop up which mean we’re unable to follow our original plan to the letter!’

Planning for a long haul event isn’t a quick packing exercise. Everything has to be logged and decided months in advance. The team have to make sure that they have enough freight boxes to pack all the equipment they’ll need. The precious cargo is then transported to Holland in the Team Aon Race Trucks before every last box is loaded into two 42 foot containers which will be their new home for the rest of the season – along with every other piece of equipment from up and down the WTCC pit lane.

‘You have to remember’ adds Harris, ‘We’re not just packing for one race like we normally would; we’re packing for five. So we have to think in advance of everything that we’re going need and make sure that it’s all packed because once it’s out there it could be difficult to get what we need at short notice.

‘Everyone pitches in because each department needs different things at a race meeting. For example the engineers and management will need a printer and office supplies – so they’ll box it up and we’ll find a way of loading it.’

Unlike a European race the trucks are left behind and everything is moved into containers for the long journeys. ‘Effectively we’re packing two truckloads into two smaller containers,’ says Hide. ‘We have to find the space for things and try and load so that the last thing that goes in will be the first thing we need at the other end. But you also have to think about the small things that are needed too such as all the tools, brake pads as well as the elements people don’t necessarily think about like Helmet dryers for the drivers – which during hot races they will most probably want.’

The cars are the last things packed. Senior adds, ‘The first thing we load will be components such as tyres and tyre racks because we won’t need these until we’re actually on track. The last thing to be loaded is the cars and that’s purely because the mechanics are working on them up until the very last minute of packing.’

Although there are always extras; ‘Then finally I guess it’s the things we have forgotten,’ adds Hide, ‘which get loaded last of all!’

But before any of this can happen it’s Travel Co-ordinater Michele Quaife’s job to make sure that every team member can get to each race, ‘We get a lot of support from the championship organisers when it comes to these events. I still book all the flights and hotels but they will send a list of hotels where they have rooms exclusively reserved for team members. The biggest change I notice between the two parts of the season is needing a Visa for visiting countries like the USA, China and Japan – other than that I try and treat these events like normal round but just add a little extra time to get everything planned an booked.’

With everything packed and the logistics sorted it’s then time for the entire team to jump on a plane, head to Brazil and unload the containers for the first of the long haul races. Team Aon’s adventure in the WTCC continues!

Team Aon

MULLER AND MENU MAKE TWO WINS FOR CHEVROLET

Yvan Muller and Alain Menu scored another two victories for Chevrolet, increasing the manufacturer’s tally in the current season to 11 out of 14.
In the first race the reigning world champion pipped pole sitter Gabriele Tarquini at the start and resisted the Italian’s and Rob Huff’s comeback in the last laps.
Menu played the part of comic books hero Michel Vaillant in a perfect way and dominated the second race in his Chevrolet in Vaillante disguise.
These results meant that Chevrolet stretched further the leading margin in the Manufacturers’ Championship to 189 points.
In the Drivers’ Championship Muller made another small step forward, scoring eight and two points more than Huff and Menu. The Frenchman now has an 18-point lead on Huff, while Menu lies 37points adrift.
The fight for the best of the rest between Tom Coronel and Gabriele Tarquini is also becoming hotter. They both finished once on the podium today, but Tarquini’s withdrawal in the second race gave the Dutchman an eight-point edge.
In the Yokohama Trophy Norbert Michelisz won the first race, but the hero of the day was Pepe Oriola who managed to beat Coronel to second overall in Race 2. It was the best result ever for the Spanish teenager in WTCC.
The championship takes now a 50-day break, while cars and parts are being shipped to Brazil. Rounds 15 and 16 will take place at Curitiba on July 22.

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve – 02 / 03 June 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.autodromodoalgarve.com

TARQUINI TAKES DOMINANT POLE

After setting an impressive fastest lap in this morning’s first free practice, Gabriele Tarquini and his SEAT León claimed their second pole position of the season in a dominant way.
It took only two flying laps to the Italian driver to leave the rest of the field behind. Tarquini topped Q1 with an already impressive 1:54.809, and in Q2 he literally annihilated his competitors with an improvement of nearly one second.
Yvan Muller was the only Chevrolet driver who managed to fight for the pole, and eventually claimed the second spot on the grid for tomorrow’s first race, while Rob Huff qualified in fourth and Alain Menu in a disappointing ninth.
Norbert Michelisz topped the Yokohama Trophy, and qualified a brilliant third overall. His team-mate Gábor Wéber completed Zengö Motorsport’s excellent result by qualifying seventh, ahead of local hero Tiago Monteiro.
Pepe Oriola qualified tenth, and therefore won pole position on the reversed grid for Race 2.

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve – 02 / 03 June 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.autodromodoalgarve.com

The WTCC race day at the Salzburgring had two faces. The first race delivered another 1-2-3 for Chevrolet, while the second one saw Stefano D’Aste claiming his first win after a dramatic last lap.
Rob Huff, Yvan Muller and Alain Menu dominated Race 1, but at the same time they treated the Austrian fans to a good show, engaging each other in close fights nearly at every corner.
The second race was set to end in another 1-2-3 for Chevrolet, as Muller, Huff and Menu were able to recover and take command despite starting ninth, tenth and eighth respectively. However, tyre problems plagued all the three Cruze cars – and also the León cars of Monteiro, Tarquini and Dudukalo – and this resulted in a last-corner sprint that propelled D’Aste towards an unexpected victory from Huff and Tom Coronel.
In terms of the title fight, Huff emerged as the overall winner of the weekend. The Englishman overtook Menu for second place and also reduced his gap from Yvan Muller to only eight points, which promises exciting battles for the second half of the season.
In the Yokohama Trophy, before D’Aste’s sensational overall triumph (that followed Norbert Michelisz’s in the previous event), Alex MacDowall won the category in the first race, claiming his maiden victory since he joined the championship.
The championship will resume at Portimão, Portugal on June 3 for rounds 13 and 14.

ETCC ROUNDS 5 & 6

MONJE AND SEAT DOMINATE IN AUSTRIA

Fernando Monje, driving a SEAT León TDi, took back-to-back victories at the Salzburgring despite having to fight his way through the field in both races. Starting from 11^th on the grid in Race 1 and 8^th in Race 2, Monje twice carefully picked his way through to the front and, with an extra 3 Super 2000 Championship points for qualifying on pole position, takes the maximum 23
points away from Austria. Monje’s lead in S2000 with only two races remaining is now 12 points, with both Peter Rikli (Honda Civic) and Petr Fulín (BMW 320si) still able to clinch the title.
In the Single-Make Trophy, there was one win and one second place apiece for Norway’s Stian Paulsen and Andreas Pfister from Germany. Just one point separates the pair heading for the final pair of races.
The honours were also split in the Super 1600 category, with victories going to the two Ford Fiesta drivers Kevin Krammes and Paulo Necchi. It’s now only these two that can win the S1600 crown, with Krammes leading Necchi by 17 points.
Finally, the Super Production category saw both victories go to Russia’s Nikolay Karamyshev, who has extended his head over Aleksandar Tošić to 11 points. The pair made contact several times during the second race so we can expect the two races at Imola to be anything but straightforward!

 

Salzburgring – 19 / 20 May 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.salzburgring.com

Team Aon’s James Nash has scored points in both races this weekend at the Salzburgring, Austria. Having qualified 13th the Brit driver made his way up to finish in a strong tenth position in both races. Team mate Tom Chilton started race one from the back of the grid after a penalty, however made up a handful of places to finish 16th and 11th respectively.

Despite a difficult qualifying for the team on Saturday both drivers were looking strong to make up places from their starting positions. The first race of the day was a reserved affair from the start and by the end of the first lap Nash had lost one place while Chilton had made up a handful to place him 17th.

Both Nash and Chilton made up one place with the retirement of Alberto Cerqui and gained a further place after Darryl O’Young’s off track excursion put him in the gravel and out of the race. This ultimately brought out the safety car for a few laps while the stricken car was removed to a safer place.

A clean restart with no positions lost or gained ensured Nash was P12 and Chilton P15 as the race got back underway. However just a few minutes later contact between Aleksei Dudukalo and Mehdi Bennani elevated both Team Aon drivers up the field and Nash into the points. As they crossed the finish line Nash picked up a point for tenth place while Chilton finished 16th having made his way through the grid from his last place grid slot.

With less than an hour between the two races it was a quick turnaround for the team as Chilton and Nash made their way back out on the grid for the final race of the weekend.

As the lights went green both Team Aon drivers once again made good clean starts with Chilton making up three places to put him 16th; Nash meanwhile was holding on to 13th place.

After a few laps it became clear that many drivers were having issues up and down the grid. Tiago Montiero was the first to suffer as he locked his wheels which sent him straight on at turn one.

Next it was Alain Menu who hit the gravel, closely followed by Alex MacDowall on the very same corner. Soon enough most of the front wheel drive cars were falling by the wayside; Gabriele Tarquini and Dudukalo both had front left punctures while Di Sabitino also lost out in the closing laps.

With all of the problems around them Nash and Chilton had moved up to a solid 11th and 12th place by the last lap. However a problem for one of their competitors on the very last lap meant that Nash collected the final point for finishing tenth; Chilton was just outside in 11th.

Having picked up points in both races James said, ‘It’s been quite a challenging weekend for me, and I didn’t feel that I maximised my own performance during qualifying yesterday. However these two races have given us a strong idea of the direction we need to be going in. It’s great to have scored points in both races this weekend – to be consistent and walk away with points during both races is always a positive.’

Reflecting on the day’s racing, Tom said ‘I made great starts on both the rolling and standing starts – making up two or three cars by the first corner in each race. Considering we’ve had a few problems this weekend I was really happy to have gone from last to 11th. It was quite interesting seeing everybody spinning off around me during the last race – it shows how hard everyone was pushing this weekend.

‘Every session we’ve gone out we’ve made the car go faster by using a different direction on the set-up so I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Portimao so we can continue to go faster.’

This weekend’s FIA World Touring Car Championship event in Austria will mark the mid-way point in the 2012 season and with five rounds under their belt so far Team Aon drivers Tom Chilton and James Nash have already scored points in their debut season. As well as adding to their points tally, both drivers are helping Team Aon in the development of the Global Ford Focus as the team competes on the world stage for the first time. Last time out in Hungary both drivers endured a difficult weekend and will be hoping that the Salzburgring brings better fortunes as they continue their steep 2012 learning curve.

The previous round in Hungary was a difficult showing for Team Aon; after sustaining heavy damage during the previous round in Slovakia Nash’s car needed an extensive rebuild in-between the back-to-back rounds. However despite once again making it through to the second part of qualifying with a fully rebuilt car, further bad luck eliminated Nash out of the second race of the weekend. Chilton fared no better as he struggled with a lack of grip for the majority of the weekend.

The sixth round of the season in Austria will be the penultimate race of the European season and sees Chilton and Nash battle it out around the Salzburgring – a track neither driver has previously competed around before.

Despite the circuit being tightly packed in, it is the long straights which generally produce the most exciting racing to watch, all the while providing the drivers with the best overtaking opportunities of the race.

Speaking ahead of the weekend Tom Chilton said, ‘Again it’s a track that I’ve never driven around so that’s quite a challenge, but I think there’s quite a few drivers up and down the field who also have never driven the track before so it does even the playing field a little – a bit like Slovakia.

‘We have a few new parts coming to the car for this weekend which I’m feeling good about and, as always, our aim is to qualify within the top 12 and hopefully have a better weekend than we did in Hungary.’

After difficult back-to-back races in Slovakia and Hungary James Nash added, ‘Hungary was a challenge setup wise compared to Slovakia so it will be interesting to see how the car feels in Austria. We’re working hard to understand why the car feels so different from track to track and I’m hoping Austria will help unlock some clues. It’s a new circuit again for us, so it’s certainly going to be interesting.”

Team Aon

The WTCC event at the Hungaroring came to an happy ending on the second race, with thousandths of spectators standing up, cheering and waving national flags as Norbert Michelisz’s BMW crossed the line in first place.

Earlier, reigning world champion and current point leader Yvan Muller had won the first race, leading home his Chevrolet team-mates Rob Huff and Alain Menu at the end of another dominating performance put in by the RML-built Cruze cars.

But for the enthusiastic Hungarian fans – 52,000 came to the track on the weekend – the climax was reached during the twelve laps of the second race, with Michelisz at the front, welcomed by stadium-like roars at every passing on the main straight.

In terms of the championship fight, Alain Menu has moved a little step forward compared to his team-mates. With a third and a second in today’s races, the Swiss has moved up to second, ahead of Huff, and closed a bit the gap from Muller (23 points).

Proteam Racing’s Mehdi Bennani was the event’s other hero. After claiming his best result ever in WTCC by finishing fourth in the first race, the Moroccan driver immediately bettered his performance, becoming the first
North African racer to achieve a podium result in an FIA World Championship.

The championship will resume at the Austrian Salzburgring, on May 20 for rounds 11 and 12.

 

Hungaroring, Budapest – 05 / 06 May 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.hungaroring.hu

This weekend’s FIA World Touring Car event in Budapest was a steep learning curve for Team Aon drivers Tom Chilton and James Nash, who despite putting in some impressive overtaking manoeuvres, left the Hungaroring with no points. The British duo struggled to get the most out of the low grip circuit, as the team continue to develop the new WTCC Ford Focus.

This season’s tightly packed WTCC calendar has seen five events already since the season opener in Monza in March, forcing a high rate of development on the Team Aon Ford Focus machines. New suspension parts brought out for last weekend’s event at the high grip and flat Slovakiaring, didn’t suit the low grip undulating Hungaroring, leaving both drivers struggling during this weekend’s event. With little chance for the team to develop new parts in-between the back to back events, it was a tough weekend for both Chilton and Nash on both theirs and the team’s first visit to the Budapest circuit.

This morning’s rolling start was predictably chaotic, with several cars running wide. Both Team Aon drivers managed to make it through the melee unscathed with Nash doing well to make up several places to seventh. Chilton meanwhile received some contact from behind, but had made a good start and managed to stay on track to make up places and was 18th at the end of lap one.

Nash soon found himself involved in some wheel to wheel racing with Alex MacDowall and local hero Norbert Michelisz. Nash didn’t quite have the grip to keep the two behind and dropped to ninth place, while Chilton was lying 17th.

Weber passed Nash for ninth a couple of laps later, the Team Aon driver was now running with light damage to his bumper clearly after a nudge from behind. At the chequered flag, Nash was 11th, while Chilton had managed to climb to 15th.

The weather stayed warm and sunny for this afternoon’s standing start ahead of race two. Once again Chilton managed to make up places off the line, and was wheel to wheel with Nash at the first corner, with both doing well to avoid creating any damage to their sister car. At the end of the first lap, Nash was 13th while Chilton was 14th.

The racing action continued in earnest on lap two, when Nash was involved in a feisty battle with Darryl O’Young, but wasn’t able to find a way past. Soon after both Team Aon men were in a tight line of cars in the battle for 13th with Aleksei Dudukalo, Pasquale DiSabatino and Tom Coronel.

By lap five, a fast approaching Coronel passed both Team Aon men, relegating Nash to 14th and Chilton 15th. The order remained unchanged until Nash pulled of the track with just a few laps remaining with a sudden lack of power. Following the misfortune for his team mate, Chilton crossed the line in 14th place.

Team mate Chilton was philosophical about the team’s weekend, commenting, “The weekend was struggle for us; we arrived in Slovakia with a new suspension set-up which was clearly very strong there, but didn’t quite work for us in Hungary. We’ve learnt a huge amount for when we’re here again next year however, and we always knew that there would be challenges like this in our first season. Aside from that, the car still feels great with a very good balance. I made two decent starts as well, and made up places during the rolling and standing starts. I didn’t get any points, but we’ve come away with a lot of knowledge which will help us in the future.”

The first-ever visit of the WTCC to the Slovakia Ring saw victories in the two races going to Gabriele Tarquini in a Lukoil Racing SEAT León and Robert Huff in one of the three factory Chevrolet Cruze cars. For both drivers, Slovakia saw their first wins of the season, with Tarquini giving the new SEAT 1.6 litre turbocharged petrol engine its maiden victory.
A sell-out crowd of more than 25,000 enjoyed the sunny day and close, incident-packed racing. A number of WTCC competitors were not quite so happy with the spectacle, with the Team AON Ford Focus cars in particular leaving the circuit having failed to convert their early promising pace into useful points because of race incidents.
The early domination of the 2012 WTCC by Chevrolet appeared to have drawn to a close after qualifying on Saturday. The highest-placed Cruze was that of sixth-placed Yvan Muller, while pole position had been claimed by Norbert Michelisz in a BMW 320 TC. The Chevrolet team bounced back on race day, however, with all three of their drivers recording podium finishes. James Nash, meanwhile, qualified an impressive fourth in a Ford Focus, but received a ten-place grid penalty for both races after failing the ride height inspection.
Tarquini and his team-mate Aleksei Dudukalo claimed a 1-2 for Lukoil Racing in Race 1, while a similar result for Chevrolet in Race 2 saw Huff finish just ahead of Muller. Huff has now closed the gap to Muller to 27 points, with Alain Menu dropping to third place in the Drivers’ Championship table, just a point behind Huff.
In the Yokohama Trophy there were wins for Dudukalo in Race 1 and Pepe Oriola in Race 2. Oriola now leads by 9 points from Stefano D’Aste, with Norbert Michelisz in third place.
The WTCC now has its shortest break between races of the entire season, with rounds 9 and 10 taking place next weekend at Budapest’s Hungaroring.

CORONEL GIVEN TIME PENALTY FOR RACE 1
Tom Coronel was given a 30-second time penalty on the results of the first race, as he had punted Franz Engstler off the track.
This dropped the Dutchman from eighth to 15^th.

EUROPEAN TOURING CAR CUP – ROUND 3 & 4

CZECH DRIVERS SHARE VICTORIES IN SLOVAKIA

The two ETCC races at the Slovakia Ring saw the Czech drivers sharing the spoils of victory, with the SEAT León TDi of Michal Matějovský winning the first race and Petr Fulín’s BMW 320si taking the honours in the second. However it was Matějovský who won the event, thanks to the qualifying points.
Their results meant that Czech Republic earned a total of 32 points in the Nations Cup and moves into a 3-point lead over Germany.
The leader of the Super 2000 category arriving in Slovakia, Fernando Monje, failed to repeat his dominant performance from the opening races in Monza and so it is Peter Rikli who leads the S2000 class by one point.
Other winners of the day were Kevin Krammes (Ford Fiesta in S1600), Andreas Pfister (SEAT León Cup in Single-Make Trophy) and Nikolay Karamyshev (Honda Civic) in Super Production.

Slovakia Ring – 28 / 29 April 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – http://www.slovakiaring.sk