FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 28 – 5th August 2005
RESULTS FROM SPA REMAIN PROVISIONAL
Results from the 11th and 12th rounds of the FIA WTCC, held
last week in Spa, remain provisional, pending technical checks
(the ECU of Farfus’ Alfa Romeo, sealed by the Scrutineers
after he set pole position on Friday) and the two appeals
lodged by Alfa Romeo racing against as many sporting decisions
taken by the Stewards.
The Italian team appealed against the 3-second penalty inflicted
on Stefano D’Aste in Race 2 and the decision to consider
the collision between Gabriele Tarquini and Antonio García
at the end of Race 2, a normal race incident. The FIA Court
of Appeal is due to meet after the championship’s next
event in Oschersleben (August 28th).
Alfa Romeo’s third appeal, against Farfus’ exclusion
from Race 1 due to a collision with Jörg Müller,
has been withdrawn. Müller will be dropped by ten positions
on the starting grid for Oschersleben’s Race 1, having
been considered jointly liable for the incident.
77,000 ATTENDED FIA WTCC IN SPA
Official figures of on site attendance for the meeting in
Spa say that 77,000 people attended between Thursday and Saturday,
the days of the FIA WTCC track activities. Meaning an increase
of 28 % compared to the spectators who came to the Belgian
track for the same period in 2004.
The average attendance in the current season so far, totals
45,500 per event.
SEAT FRANCE JOIN WITH ORECA AND ORTELLI
SEAT’s presence in the FIA World Touring Car Championship
makes another step forward with the addition of Stéphane
Ortelli in a Toledo Cupra car run by Team Oreca and supported
by SEAT France.
Ortelli, 35 year old, born in France but
citizen of the Principality of Monaco, will take part in the
championship’s next three meetings: Oschersleben (28
August), Istanbul (18 September) and Valencia (2 October)
alongside SEAT Sport’s works drivers Rickard Rydell,
Jordi Gené and Peter Terting, and the two GR Asia Team’s
Independents, Tom Coronel and Valle Mäkelä.
Hugues De Chaunac’s Team Oreca have achieved success
in every category: single seaters, sportscars and touring
cars (the 1994 French Supertourisme title with Yvan Muller
and BMW). As for Ortelli who has recently established himself
as one of the best sportscar drivers (twice FIA GT champion
in the N-GT class for Porsche), had touring car experiences
in the early Nineties at the wheel of Peugeot and BMW cars.
HÉLARY TO DRIVE FOR PEUGEOT IN GERMANY
In Oschersleben it will be Eric Hélary’s turn
to drive the Peugeot 407 run by the Peugeot Sport Denmark
team. The French car made its maiden appearance in the championship
at Spa, in the hands of Soheil Ayari.
Hélary, 39 years old from Paris, is a Touring Car
veteran, having claimed a number of race wins in the French
and German championships. He is currently Peugeot Sport’s
works driver in the French Supertourisme, and his tie to the
French Manufacturer dates back to 1993, when he won the 24
Hours of Le Mans in a Peugeot 905.
DE MICHELI’S RETURN IN OSCHERSLEBEN
After missing the previous meeting in Spa, JAS Motorsport’s
Adriano De Micheli will rejoin in Oschersleben.
“My car was badly damaged after the
crash in Puebla,” he said. “It was not possible
to repair it in time. Now I’m looking forward to positive
results in Oschersleben. I’ve had enough bad luck this
year, I do hope that the second part of the season could give
the team and myself what we really deserve.”
Team principal Alessandro Mariani added:
“The more you eat, the more you are hungry. In Spa,
like in Puebla, only unlucky circumstances prevented us from
achieving the results that would reward our efforts. The JAS
Team and the Honda Accord are today generally perceived as
top contenders in the FIA WTCC, but this is not enough. We
are still missing the icing on the cake. There are still 8
races to go, and we’ll try harder.”
THE WOMAN OF THE WEEK: MONICA SIPSZ
Monica Sipsz is our first woman of the week. She has been
Team Manager of Alfa Romeo touring car team for twelve years.
What is your role as Team Manager? “I
overlook every aspect of the team so I could be involved in
anything from the drivers to budget decisions. It’s
difficult to explain because there is not a fixed set of duties
but basically there is nothing I do not deal with!”
What is it like being one of very few women in motorsport
management? “At the beginning it wasn’t
easy. But when people realise you know the job and are valuable
to the team, you are accepted. The most important thing is
how hard you work.”
How is the 2005 season going? “This
season has been hard so far. It is extremely competitive out
there but that is how it should be. The organisation has done
a great job in balancing the performances in the championship.
The FIA WTCC is one of the best Championships in the world.”
Will an Alfa Romeo man be the 2005 Champion?
“I really hope so. Our job is to try and win everywhere,
and have one or more of our drivers fighting for the title
until the last race.”
FLASH NEWS
LIVE ON ZDF: For the third consecutive meeting
the FIA WTCC will be broadcast live in the hosting Country
by a major terrestrial TV channel. After the races in Puebla
were aired on TV Azteca and those in Spa on RTL TVI, the 13th
and 14th rounds in Oschersleben will be live on ZDF.
THEY SAID: QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Chevrolet Motorsport Manager Eric Nève, on the ‘SOS
Children Villages’ laps in Spa: “One girl asked
Rob Huff to go as fast as he could, which he duly did. A blind
young man, who had traveled on his own from Cherbourg to Spa,
could tell from the gearshifts and revs where exactly we were
on the track.”
COUNTDOWN: - 23 DAYS to the FIA WTCC –
LG Race of Germany, 28th August in Oschersleben
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