FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 36 – 30th September 2005
RACING DRIVERS GO TO UNIVERSITY
Yesterday the FIA WTCC introduced itself to Spain ahead of
the championship’s penultimate event which is taking
place at Valencia’s Circuito Ricardo Tormo this weekend.
The Polytechnic University of Valencia hosted a press conference
in which Marcello Lotti, General Manager of championship promoter
KSO and David Serra, Sports Councillor for the Community of
Valencia addressed the audience. After the presentation, Jordi
Gené drove his SEAT León back and forth on the
campus in a few demonstration runs, which proved very popular
with the large crowd. Gené was then joined by other
drivers for a busy autograph session.
SEAT WORKED HARD TO PREPARE FOR HOME RACE
The forthcoming weekend is an important one for SEAT Sport.
Not only is it their home race, it is also the first time
that all three of the works drivers will be competing in the
new León. In preparation for this, the team spent Wednesday
testing in Calafat before moving to Barcelona the day after.
Team Manager, Antonio Rodriguez commented “The Leóns
are working well. The only major difference between the Toledo
and the new car is that the León’s aerodynamics
are not as good. This is obviously a disadvantage but I’m
sure we can overcome it. We have a lot of guests this weekend
and everyone will be working hard to put on a good SEAT show.”
POLO VILLAAMIL TO DRIVE FOR GR ASIA
GR Asia has announced that Polo Villaamil will drive the
second of their SEAT Toledo Cupra cars this weekend. Villaamil
finalised a deal with the team late this afternoon and will
jump straight into the car tomorrow having never competed
in touring cars. “I am feeling all sorts of emotions
at the moment,” the 25 year old Spaniard from Madrid
commented. “It will be my first front wheel drive but
I am told it is an easy car to adapt to and I hope to get
the best out of it. I would be very happy if I could be up
to the standard of my team-mate Tom (Coronel) because he is
very used to the car. I really don’t know what to expect
but I am happy to be here.”
TOURING CAR BUREAU’S LATEST DECISIONS
Front-wheel drive cars are back to their original minimum
weight (1110 kg + 30 for use of sequential gearbox) as fixed
in the Sporting Regulations. The 10 kg bonus that was granted
to them in Oschersleben and Istanbul was not repeated.
However the Touring Car Bureau decided to grant a 10-kg reduction
for the hatch-back cars: Ford Focus and the new SEAT León.
MAN OF THE WEEK: ANTONIO GARCÍA
Antonio García is 25 years old and races alongside
Alessandro Zanardi for BMW Team Italy-Spain. Valencia is his
home race so we spoke to him about how his season has been
and what he hopes the Circuito Ricardo Tormo will bring.
You have come close to victory but it hasn’t
actually happened, do you think Valencia could be the place
for your first win?
“I hope more than I think. I like the track, it is
quite interesting but in the past BMW have not performed particularly
well there. However, last year Imola was difficult for us
and this year we were much more competitive. It would be great
if the same thing happened at Valencia.”
You’re currently 7th in the Championship, would
you class this as a successful season?
“Overall it hasn’t been a bad season and I have
been competitive at many tracks. It is disappointing that
I have been involved in accidents though. The second races
of Spa and Istanbul were particularly bad because that is
six points lost and if I had those points I would fighting
among the top.”
What was the team atmosphere like after Alessandro
Zanardi’s win in Oschersleben?
“That was such a great thing for the team. We had achieved
2nd places but when Alex got the opportunity of pole he didn’t
let it go and he got a great win. For the team, for me, for
BMW, it was a really excellent moment.”
FLASH NEWS
MY RIGHT FOOT: Carl Rosenblad of Crawford
Racing is unsure of whether he will be able to take part in
the championship this weekend. The Swede cut his right foot
badly with an axe while chopping wood in his garden and as
a result he is finding very difficult to brake.
THEY SAID: QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Young Spaniard Marc Carol, commenting on his debut in the
World Championship: “I’m really happy to have
this opportunity with a well respected team such as SEAT Sport.
Of course, I want to learn as much as possible but above all
I am here to enjoy the entire experience.”
OFFICIAL FIGURES
Drivers who have passed scrutineering: 27 Represented countries:
9 Represented Manufacturers: 6
FIA WTCC TIMETABLE – VALENCIA, 1st and 2nd
October
Saturday 09.00 – 09.30 Free practice Sunday 09.35 –
09.50 Warm-up 12.35 – 13.05 Free practice 15.15 Race
1 15.30 – 16.00 Qualifying 16.20 Race 2
TV COVERAGE FROM VALENCIA (Central European Time)
Saturday, 1st: Qualifying – LIVE SPORTITALIA, 15.25/16.00
Qualifying – highlights EUROSPORT, 20.00/20.15
Sunday, 2nd: Warm up – LIVE EUROSPORT, 09.30/10.00
Races 1 & 2 – LIVE EUROSPORT, 14.55/17.00 Races
1 & 2 – LIVE SPORTITALIA, 15.00/17.00 Races 1 &
2 – LIVE TVE 2 (ESP), 15.00/17.00 Races 1 & 2 –
LIVE RTL TVI (BEL), 15.00/17.00 Races – highlights ZDF
(GER), 18.00/18.10
Thursday, 6th: FIA WTCC Magazine EUROSPORT, 20.00/20.30
Friday, 7th: FIA WTCC Magazine EUROSPORT, 10.00/10.30
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