The 2012 FIA WTCC kicked off just like the 2011 season had ended, and the opening weekend of was dominated by the Chevrolet team. A 1-2 in the first race was bettered in the second with one of the blue Cruze cars occupying every one of the podium places. It was the reigning Drivers‘ Champion, Yvan Muller, who left Monza with the biggest smile – the Frenchman won both races and so already has a healthy lead in the series.
However the first two races made clear that between Muller and his team-mates Rob Huff and Alain Menu the fight for the championship will be tough, no hold barred.
For a while, it seemed Chevrolet would not have things completely their own way. SEAT’s new turbocharged petrol engine arrived literally a few days beforehand and it immediately proved to be competitive. Gabriele Tarquini, in front of his home fans, qualified on pole position for the first race with Pepe Oriola qualifying as the leading Yokohama Trophy driver with an identical engine in his León. Thoughts of a Spanish giant-killing were short-lived, however; Tarquini’s engine was changed as a precaution after Qualifying and he eventually finished Race 1 in third place before retiring from Race 2 after a collision. Oriola was the highest-placed Yokohama Trophy driver in Race 1 but then finished Race 2 outside the top 10.
Team Aon were among several WTCC debutantes in Monza; the team’s two Ford Focus cars qualified just outside the top 12 that went through to the second stage of qualifying (also new for 2012). Despite that fact that both drivers were involved in incidents during the races, Tom Chilton (13^th in race 1 and 16^th in Race 2) and James Nash (16^th and 13^th) gave the team a promising start to its WTCC campaign.
Among the Yokohama Trophy entrants, Stefano D’Aste was the winner in race 2 while Norbert Michelisz was able to lead Race 2 overall until lap 7 when the Hungarian driver hit something on the the track and allowed the charging Muller to snatch the lead. In both races, Oriola, D’Aste, Michelisz, Franz Engstler, Albert Cerqui and Alex MacDowall (another newcomer) were all impressive, which suggests a terrific battle is in store this year.
Results of the second race remain provisional pending technical checks on the brake calipers of cars 18 and 40.
The championship will resume at Valencia, Spain, on April 1 for rounds 3 and 4.

ETCC – MONJE WINS BOTH OPENING RACES
The first two races of the 2012 FIA ETCC were both won by Spain’s Fernando Monje driving a SEAT León TDI, but with Monje planning to move to the WTCC for the next rounds in Valencia, it seems the fight for the ETCC title will be anything but predictable this year.
After qualifying on pole position, it was obvious that Monje would be the man to beat in Monza, but the only driver able to get anywhere near him – Petr Fulín in a BMW 320 – lost any chance of a useful points haul when he was judged to have made a false start in Race 1, was given a drive-through penalty and then was black-flagged after appearing to ignore the penalty. When he finished Race 1 by crossing the timing beam in the pit lane, the Stewards prevented him from starting Race 2 and so Fulín only took 2 points from Qualifying back to the Czech Republic.
It was Peter Rikli who left Monza in second place in the S2000 category after finishing second in both races, while the 15 year old Hungarian driver Ferenc Ficza must be delighted to be in third place after the biggest race weekend of his life.
In the trophy for single-make cars, it was Stian Paulsen from Norway who took maximum points from both races and qualifying, although both Andreas Pfister and Urs Sonderegger battled with Paulsen in the races and so the category will be one to watch this year.
Only two cars ran in the category for Super Production cars, with Fabio Fabiani’s BMW judged to have a non-compliant fuel tank and so not allowed to start. Nikolay Karamyshev and Aleksandar Tosic took one win apiece, but a non-finish for Tosic in race 2 means that it’s the Russian driver who has an early lead.
In the S1600 battle of the Ford Fiestas, it was Germany’s Kevin Krammes who took a perfect 23 points home from Monza. Gilles Bruckner from Luxembourg is in second place with Paulo Necchi third.
The Nations‘ Cup was awarded to Spain, thanks in no small part to Monje’s domination of the two races.

WTCC Race of Italy – Autodromo di Monza – 10 / 11 March 2012
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Gabriele Tarquini will start the first WTCC race of the 2012 season from pole position after setting the fastest time (1:57.915) in Qualifying this afternoon. In doing so, Tarquini’s SEAT León has ended the string of thirteen successive pole positions by Chevrolet that began in Macau in 2010. Behind the Italian driver on the grid will be the four Chevrolet Cruze cars of Yvan Muller, Robert Huff, Alain Menu and Rickard Rydell with seventh-placed Pepe Oriola the highest of the Yokohama Trophy contenders.

Qualifying 1
The Chevrolet of Alain Menu was the early pace-setter in the session, but Pepe Oriola sprung a surprise after four laps when his SEAT León went fastest. The Spanish driver’s joy was short-lived, however, when Gabriele Tarquini and Robert Huff both went quicker. Yvan Muller then snatched the second-fastest time, with Alain Menu and the BMW of Norbert Michelisz also going quicker than Oriola before the session was red-flagged when Alberto Cerqui went off at the Parabolica.
The following drivers went through to Q2: Tarquini, Muller, Huff, Michelisz, Menu, Oriola, Dudalko, Coronel, Rydell, D’Aste, MacDowall and Wéber.

Qualifying 2
Tarquini’s pole-winning time occurred on only his second lap, with the three factory Chevrolet drivers unable to better his performance. Muller (1:57.974), Huff (1:58.106) and Menu (1:58.200) will therefore all start behind the SEAT driver in tomorrow’s first race. The Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden Cruze of Rickard Rydell (1:58.319) and Tom Coronel in a BMW 320 TC (1:58.389) qualified fifth and sixth respectively, with Oriola (1:58.412) heading the Yokohama Trophy entrants in seventh. Alex MacDowall (1:58.507), Aleksei Dudukalo (1:58.649) and Norbert Michelisz (1:58.652) rounded off the top ten, with Stefano D’Aste (1:58.931) eleventh fastest and Gábor Wéber (1:59.348) twelfth.
Thanks to the reversed grid, it will be the BMW 320 TC of Norbert Michelisz that will start Race 2 from pole position.
ETCC – MONJE BEATS FULÍN FOR POLE POSITION
The SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TDi of Fernando Monje will start the first race of the 2012 ETCC from pole position after setting the fastest time early in the thirty-minute Qualifying session. The Krenek Motorsport BMW 320si of Petr Fulín was second fastest, while third quickest during the session was Norway’s Stian Paulsen in a SEAT León Cópa, which was also the fastest of the single-make series entrants.
The Spanish teenager has been quick around Monza since the first test session on Thursday and Monje duly delivered pole position in the diesel-powered SEAT with a time of 2:01.188. For a short while, it appeared the top three would be an all-SEAT affair, but Fulín clearly had other ideas and his time of 2:02.283, although over a second off Monje’s pace, suggests the BMW driver has no intention of letting the Spaniard have things his own way tomorrow, particularly with Monza traditionally being hard on the tyres of front-wheel drive cars.
If pole position was decided early on, third place was anything but. It was only in the dying minutes of the session that Paulsen (2:03.434) snatched third place from one of his rivals in the single-make series, Andreas Pfister (2:03.802). Together with Gabriele Tarquini’s pole position in the first of the WTCC races and Pepe Oriola heading the entrants in the Yokohama Trophy, today has been dominated by SEAT León cars.
The reigning Super Production Champion, Aleksander Tosic in a Honda Civic Type-R, was the faster of the two SP entries in eleventh place on the grid (2:11.937), with the Stewards denying the BMW of Fabio Fabiani permission to start due to a non-conforming fuel tank.
In the hotly-contested S1600 category, it was the Ford Fiesta ST of Germany’s Kevin Krammes that set the fastest time (2:19.111) although Gilles Bruckner (2:19.639) and Ulrike Krafft (2:20.300) will be out to deny Krammes victory in the first ETCC races of the season tomorrow.

WTCC Race of Italy – Autodromo di Monza – 10 / 11 March 2012
www.fiawtcc.com – www.monzanet.it

The 2012 WTCC season got under way yesterday, with five one-hour test sessions and the Chevrolet team made very clear from the start that the Cruze is still the car to beat.
Yvan Muller, Rob Huff and Alain Menu topped the time lists in all the sessions they took part in.
The reigning champion set the day’s best lap of 1:58.022 in the last test, Huff second fastest (1:58.035) and Menu third (1:58.406).
Alex MacDowall was an impressive fourth (1:58.415) in the bamboo-engineering car, completing a Chevrolet quartet ahead of the pack and topping the Yokohama Trophy.
Gabriele Tarquini emerged as the best of the rest, with the fifth fastest lap of 1:58.643 in his Lukoil Racing SEAT León; the Italian was just a bit faster that Rickard Rydell’s Swedish Chevrolet (1:58.916).
BMW drivers Tom Coronel (1:59.107) and Franz Engstler (1:59.936) were also able to break the two-minute wall.
Which has not yet been smashed by the Ford Focus cars, although Tom Chilton improved to 2:00.361, one and half second faster than he had been in the morning.
WTCC drivers will hit the track again tomorrow morning.

Reigning champion Yvan Muller and his Chevrolet were fastest in Thursday’s test

PORTUGUESE SWITCH: FROM ESTORIL TO ALGARVE
The WTCC Race of Portugal will take place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve and not at the Estoril as it was originally planned.
The switch, motivated by logistics reasons, was approved today by the World Motor Sport Council. The date of the event remains the same, June 3.
The circuit close to Portimão had already hosted a WTCC event back in 2010, when local hero Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini won one race apiece for SEAT.
"I am very pleased to go back there," said championship promoter Marcello Lotti. "The track layout suits very well touring car competitions and in 2010 we had two exciting races. And a very good crowd as well."
The circuit CEO Paulo Pinheiro echoed: "We are delighted to host the WTCC once again. This is the coronation of a three-year work that we have done to develop the track and its facilities. The WTCC event in 2010 was a major success and we are sure that this year’s race meeting will be even better, thanks to the manufacturers‘ participation and the fact that Tiago Monteiro is one of the top drivers in the championship."

WTCC’s first ever visit to the Algarve circuit dates back to 2010

SEAT GIVE SUPPORT TO WTCC CUSTOMERS
SEAT’s motorsport department confirmed their commitment in support of customer teams, for which the VW Group’s 1.6-litre turbo engine was adapted for use in the León WTCC racing car.
SEAT Sport are currently hard at work preparing the engines for installation by the customer teams. The introduction of the engine will be phased in during the season for those drivers who confirmed participation very late.
Which is why Tom Boardman (STR) will only appear on the second event at Valencia, while Tiago Monteiro (Tuenti Racing Team) and Andrea Barlesi (SUNRED Engineering) have been authorized by the FIA Touring Car Committee to race in Monza with León TDi cars.
"We are very happy with the customer teams in WTCC. We will go all-out to support them and take enormous pleasure in their racing successes," said Dr. Matthias Rabe, SEAT’s Vice President for Research and Development. "Motorsport is deeply embedded in SEAT’s DNA and also ongoing proof of our technical expertise. The fans of our brand are thrilled by every single exciting race."
SEAT Sport is supporting the customer teams with extensive assistance, and specialists from SEAT Sport will be on-site at each event.

FORD FOCUS CARS LADEN WITH 30 KILOS
Minimum weights for the newly homologated cars – Ford Focus S2000 TC and SEAT León WTCC – have been set at 1150 kilos.
However, following a decision from the Touring Car Committee, the Ford cars were imposed a 30 kilos of ballast for the Monza event.
Team Aon were also instructed to make changes to suspension and axles before the third event at Marrakech.

The starting weights for the different models at Monza are:
– 1200 kg: Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T (1160 + 40)
– 1180 kg: Ford Focus S2000 TC (1150 + 30)
– 1160 kg BMW 320 TC
– 1150 kg SEAT León WTCC; SEAT León TDi

USTCC CHAMPION: "I’M ADDICTED TO WTCC!"
Brandon Kraus, the winner of the 2011 United States Touring Car Championship, completed his first runs in a WTCC car yesterday and today at the wheel of a Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC.
The test was part of the agreement between championship promoters Marcello Lotti (WTCC) and Ali Arsham (USTCC) that will also see the American series racing at the WTCC event at Sonoma on September 23rd.
It was at the Sonoma circuit that Kraus secured the 2011 USTCC title and the Californian driver is already looking forward to the WTCC visiting his home track. Kraus was also impressed by his visit to Monza, where he was sixth fastest in today’s second test session together with the ETCC competitors.
"It was really good out there," he said after the test. "The crew worked really hard and, although we had a few problems yesterday, we picked it up today and I had a great time. What a fun track! The WTCC cars are really something, they were pulling five or six car lengths on me after every turn. I’m going to talk to a few sponsors and see if I can get a ride at Sonoma and maybe somewhere else as well. I’m addicted!"

FULÍN CHASES MONJE IN ETCC FINAL TESTS
Under blue skies and on a dry track, a total of twenty drivers took part in the two one-hour test sessions ahead of this weekend’s pair of ETCC races. Fastest in the opening session was the Krenek Motorsport BMW 320si of Petr Fulín, while it was the SUNRED Engineering SEAT Leon TDI of Fernando Monje which was quickest in the second session.
In session 1, Fulín set a time of 2:02.404 with Monje second fastest (2:02.901) and Igor Skuz third quickest in another BMW (2:04.530). The fastest of the Single-make series cars was the SEAT León of Stian Paulsen (2:05.420) while the Super 1600 Cup entrants were headed by Kevin Krammes‘ Ford Fiesta ST (2:20.162)
In session 2, it was the turn of Monje to top the timesheets, with a time of 2:01.849. Fulín had to settle for second-best this time (2:02.035) while it was the SEAT of Paulsen that was third fastest (2:04.425). The second test session saw two of the Super Production Cup entrants take to the Monza circuit, with the quicker of the two being the Honda Civic Type-R of Aleksandar Tosic (2:13.564). In the Super 1600 Cup, this time it was the Fiesta of Ulrike Krafft that set the fastest time (2:21.548).

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The 2012 FIA WTCC kicks off this weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy’s temple of speed and one of the most glorious racetracks in the world.
This superfast circuit that is home to the Italian F1 Grand Prix, hosted the first ever WTCC event back in 2005. The championship paid a stop in Monza nearly every year since, with the exception of 2009, when the WTCC Race of Italy was temporarily moved to Imola.
WTCC is one of the favourite events for the enthusiastic Italian fans who always come to fill the grandstands in overtaking places such as the first chicane and the Ascari.
All the most competitive manufacturers have managed to win at Monza. SEAT’s turbo diesel cars claimed an impressive streak of six consecutive victories between 2007 and 2009, BMW won three times and Alfa Romeo twice, while Chevrolet triumphed in the last three races, with Rob Huff scoring a double last year.
The race weekend will be opened on Thursday, March 8, by a full test day made of five one-hour sessions.

Rob Huff heads the field at the braking of the first chicane last year

A STRONG FIELD OF 25 DRIVERS
The new WTCC season will start in style, with a strong field of 25 drivers coming from 14 different countries and at the wheel of four models: Chevrolet Cruze, BMW 320, SEAT León and Ford Focus.
The latest additions were Tiago Monteiro, who joined Pepe Oriola at Tuenti Racing Team, Isaac Tutumlu, teaming with Mehdi Bennani at Proteam Racing and he duo Andrea Barlesi-Fernando Monje signed by SUNRED Engineering.
Although he entered for the season, Monje will race at Monza not in WCC, but in the FIA European Touring Car Cup.

DOWNLOAD THE WTCC ENTRY LIST

THE CHAMPIONS
For the second consecutive year Yvan Muller and Chevrolet are the defending champions.
In 2011 the Cruze cars dominated the field re-writing all WTCC records and statistics, while Muller and his team-mates Rob Huff and Alain Menu filled the championship podium.
The question is: will they be able to repeat such a triumphant season?
"It is impossible to say now," Muller commented. "You may work a lot during the wintter, but until you face your competitors at the first event you don’t know where you are. I know that we have done a good job and advanced a little bit compared to last year. But starting the season 40 kilos heavier than the rest of the field will complicate our life. As for the others, I cannot say how competitive they will be, although I’m sure that SEAT cars will be faster now that SEAT Sport is looking after them."

THE CHALLENGERS
The challenge for the rest of the field is dethroning double champions Muller and Chevrolet and competition on track is due to be even more exciting this year.
The arrival of Team Aon brings the Ford brand back to the championship for the first time after 2005; the team’s Focus cars in the hands of young and talented British drivers Tom Chilton and James Nash appear to have a great potential.
2009 champion Gabriele Tarquini’s and Tiago Monteiro’s expectations to fight back for the world title have been strongly enhanced since he signed to race for the Lukoil Racing Team at the wheel of a SEAT León car fitted out with SEAT Sport’s new 1.6-litre turbo engine that will also power the cars of Special Tuning Racing and SUNRED Engineering.
The list of is completed by a bunch of competitive drivers in BMW 320 TC cars, led by race winners Tom Coronel and Franz Engstler and the experienced Stefano D’Aste.

THE GREEN TIDE
One of the most interesting aspects of the new season is the significant rejuvenation of the competitors. Although touring car racing has always been considered as a category dominated by drivers in their forties, and even older, the 2012 WTCC is drastically reversing the trend.
For the first time half of the field is made up of drivers under-30, including a few promising teen-agers such as Pepe Oriola (17-years old) the youngest ever in WTCC, Alberto Cerqui (19) reigning champion of the Italian Superstars.
It is the proof that WTCC is now regarded as a serious alternative to formula cars in building a professional career and the championship may now welcome young racers coming from single-seaters such as Mehdi Bennani (World Series), Fernando Monje (F3 Open) and Pasquale di Sabatino (Auto GP).

THE CALENDAR
A truly global championship, the WTCC will visit twelve countries over four continents.
The new venues compared to the previous years are the modern Slovakia Ring, located nearby Bratislava, the superfast Salzburgring with its beautiful setting amid the Austrian mountains, Sonoma’s spectacular Infineon Raceway that will host WTCC first ever visit to the USA, the Shanghai International Circuit, home to the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, and Marrakech’s street circuit that reappears in the WTCC calendar after a one-year break, bringing the championship to North Africa for the third time.

THE KEY FACTORS
A few technical and sporting features might prove crucial in the fight for the titles.
ENGINE RELIABILITY – 2012 is the second season for the 1.6 turbo engines that were introduced last year, increasing performance significantly. The period of adjustment is over and now the new engines must last for the complete season, allowing a huge saving in terms of running budgets.
COMPENSATION WEIGHT – the system that allocates extra weight according to the cars‘ performance on the track will come into force from the third race meeting. However – following an agreement among the represented manufacturers – the Chevrolet Cruze cars (2011 champion model) will be laden in Monza and Valencia by the maximum ballast of 40 kilos.
QUALIFYING SYSTEM – not only the qualifying will award championship points to the top five drivers in Q2, but the whole system has been revised for adding thrill to Saturday’s action. Twelve drivers instead of ten are now allowed to advance from Q1 to Q2 and fight for the top positions on the grid for Race 1. From this year the final results of Q2 are also deciding the grid of Race 2 that is drawn up by reversing the top-ten drivers classified.

EUROPEAN TOURING CAR CUP READY TO GO
The 2012 FIA European Touring Car Cup will kick off next weekend at Monza as well. The series will be also part of the WTCC events at Slovakia Ring (29 April) and Salzburgring (20 May) before being concluded by a stand-alone event at Imola (24 June).
Eligible cars are FIA Super 2000 (as per 2010 regulations, with 2.0L normally aspirated or turbodiesel engines), Super 1600, Super Production and Single Make Trophy.
A field of twenty-six cars will race at Monza in two back-to-back 50 km races on Sunday.
In the S2000 class Aytaç Biter, Petr Fulín and Igor Skuz are among the BMW drivers who will face Honda (Christian Fischer and Peter Rikli), Peugeot (Tim Gabór), SEAT (Ferran Monje) cars. An former WTCC Alfa Romeo 156 will be in the hands of Ferenc Ficza, 15-year old Hungarian, the youngest driver ever in ETCC.
A trio of Chevrolet Aveo cars run by Maurer Motorsport will fight against a platoon of Ford Fiesta in the S1600, while reigning champion Aleksandar Tosic (Honda) and Fabio Fabiani (BMW) will resume their fight in the Super Production. The field is completed by few SEAT León Cup cars in the new Single Make Trophy.
DOWNLOAD THE ETCC ENTRY LIST

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Hungary-based Zengö Motorsport step up from one to two cars. After having confirmed WTCC race winner Norbert Michelisz the team have entered a second BMW 320 TC for the 39-year-old Gábor Wéber who succeeded Michelisz in winning the SEAT León Eurocup in 2010.
Michelisz said: "I can’t wait the 2012 season to start. Monza is going to be quite interesting, but I hope we can be at least as competitive as we were there last year. I know that this season will be a huge challenge and with Gábor Wéber as my team-mate, I think it’s possible to fight more frequently for top positions as he is a very competitive driver, and we know each other very well."
And Wéber added: "We’ve been working on the project for months and finally we are there. I’m very happy to be back with Zengö Motorsport, and to team with Norbert. He was my teammate in the SEAT Cup and we share the same fighting spirit. Together we can be even stronger to challenge for the Yokohama Trophy."

Gábor Wéber joins fellow countryman Norbert Michelisz at Zengö Mosorport

TIAGO MONTEIRO TEAMS WITH PEPE ORIOLA
Tiago Monteiro remains in the WTCC and with SEAT for a sixth consecutive year. The Portuguese racer will team with Pepe Oriola at SUNRED Engineering; they will be at the wheel of SEAT León cars run under the name of Tuenti Racing Team.
Since 2007 Monteiro claimed 15 podium results, including four race victories in the world championship.
"I am very pleased to be renewing my contract with SEAT Tuenti Racing Team. It’s an extension that is pretty obvious from a competitive and commercial standpoint. The brand is increasingly committed to the championship and the best proof of that is that the improvements made to the car this year are significant: a new engine and several major technical developments," declared Monteiro who will take part in a test session at Imola before the season opening at Monza.
"I can’t wait to get back to competition in the strictest sense. Next week, the Imola tests will be very important for preparing for the start of the season. These tests will be brief but no stone will be left unturned."

BAMBOO SIGN MACDOWALL AND DI SABATINO
Alex MacDowall and Pasquale Di Sabatino are the drivers signed by bamboo-engineering for their 2012 campaign.
The 21-year-old MacDowall joins the team after two years with the Chevrolet RML squad in the British Touring Car Championship, while Di Sabatino (24 years old) competed in the Auto GP Series in 2011.
Team Principal Richard Coleman said: "We’re delighted to have Alex and Pasquale with us. Alex has proved himself in the BTCC over the last two seasons and I’m sure he’ll shine at world level as well. Pasquale has no previous Touring Car experience but he’s a very quick racing driver and I’m sure he’ll adapt quickly to the car."

O’YOUNG JOINS BOARDMAN AT STR
Special Tuning Racing announced their driver line-up for the 2012 season. WTCC regular Darryl O’Young will join Tom Boardman who returns to the world championship after two years that he successfully spent in the British Touring Car Championship.
The team will run two SEAT León cars powered by SEAT Sport’s new 1.6 litre turbo engine.
"I’m really looking forward to the new season. I have a lot of confidence in the car, as SEAT worked hard to develop the engine and STR have years of experience with them," O’Young said. Team principal John Boardman commented: "Darryl is an exceptional talent. He has raced all over the world and his experience speaks for itself. He will be a great asset for the team."

ENGSTLER AND NG TO TEAM TOGETHER
Germany-based Liqui Moly Team Engstler announced Franz Engstler and Charles Kaki Ng as their drivers for the 2012 WTCC, at the wheel of two BMW 320 TC cars.
On their attempt to defend the Yokohama Drivers‘ and Teams‘ Trophies won in 2011, the German outfit mix Engstler’s experience with Ng’s youthful enthusiasm.
The 50-year-old Engstler claimed his and the team’s first WTCC victory last year at Oschersleben, while Ng (27 year old) joined the squad for the last three events of the season and managed to score his first championship point at Shanghai.
"It was a very promising start for him," said team manager Kurt Treml, adding: "Charles has moved to live in our town, works together with the mechanics and trains on the simulator. He is quickly integrating himself with the team."

RICKARD RYDELL TO RACE AT MONZA
Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden and reigning Scandinavian Touring Car champion Rickard Rydell will take part in the WTCC opening at Monza, marking the drivers‘ comeback to the world championship in which he claimed five race victories between 2005 and 2009.
Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden’s main target for the season is to retain the Scandinavian title, but the team also assess the opportunity of an extended WTCC programme, with further outings possible later this year.
"It will be great to return to WTCC, and particularly to do it together with an all-Swedish team. Our aim for the year ahead is to retain our STCC title, and the WTCC outing will provide us with a valuable opportunity to get back into the racing groove," said Rydell.
LAUNCH OF THE MARRAKECH EVENT
The WTCC Race of Morocco that will take place at Marrakech on April 15, was launched during a press conference at Casablanca’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.
In front of a large representative of local media, event promoter Aly Horma announced that the Marrakech street circuit has been renamed after His Highness Moulay El Hassan, heir to Morocco’s throne.
"We are deeply grateful to His Majesty the King for this great honour. It is an important recognition and a reward for the huge efforts we have done to establish this event. We are also very happy for the deal we have signed with Eurosport Events that grants the future of the WTCC race meeting for the next three years," Horma commented.
WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti said: "We are very pleased to come back to Marrakech that must be proud to be the only African venue to host an FIA world championship."

The Casablanca press conference launched the WTCC event at Marrakech

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