FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 44 – 15 December 2006
SEAT SPORT ITALIA MOVE TO WTCC
After a successful 2006 season, in which they clinched the
Italian Superturismo crown with Roberto Colciago, the SEAT
Sport Italia team announced their campaign in next year’s
World Touring Car Championship.
“After winning the Italian championship this was the
logical step to take,” team principal Tarcisio Bernasconi
commented. “For now we have one SEAT León confirmed
for Roberto Colciago, however we are working to finalize the
participation of a second car.”
WTCC PORTUGUESE EVENT PRESENTED
The 2007 FIA WTCC Race of Portugal was presented Tuesday
in Porto. During an official ceremony at Palácio do
Freixo, speeches were delivered by Laurentino Dias, Secretary
of State for Youth and Sport, Rui Rio, President of Porto’s
Muncipal Chamber, and Jacques Behar, President of KSO and
Eurosport Events.
“I’m pleased to announce that we have signed
a three-year agreement to run the championship in Portugal,”
Jacques Behar said. “And for this I have to thank the
Federação Portuguesa de Automobilismo e Karting
and its President Luis Pinto de Freitas, with whom we have
immediately found excellent cooperation. But I also wish to
thank ‘Talento’ and the Municipal Chamber of Porto
who will promote and support next year’s event.”
The FIA WTCC meeting, that will take place on July 7th and
8th, will be the first World Championship racing event in
Portugal since 1996, when the last Formula One Portuguese
Grand Prix was held in Estoril. And it will also bring motor
sport back to the city of Porto, nearly half-a-century after
Formula One raced on the Boavista street circuit in 1958 and
1960.
MICHEL JOURDAIN TEST FOR SEAT SPORT
Mexican driver Michel Jourdain jr. tested last Tuesday in
Calafat with SEAT Sport team. “I was really impressed
by the car, that requires very fine driving,” he said.
32-years old from Mexico City, Jourdain built a solid experience
racing in the USA from 1996; he spent nine seasons in Champ
Car, and in 2003 he scored two race wins and was classified
third in the championship. From 2005 he moved to Nascar, taking
part in the Nextel Cup, the Craftsman Truck series and the
Busch Cup.
“I believe that I have good chances to join SEAT Sport
for their 2007 campaign in the FIA WTCC, and I am very motivated.
However there are still some things to be defined and the
final decision is up to SEAT Mexico,” Jourdain explained.
ALAIN MENU IN THE SHOES OF SANTA CLAUS
Chevrolet driver Alain Menu put himself in Santa Claus’
shoes on the Swiss Alps. “I was asked by a Swiss TV
station to be Father Christmas at a children’s hospital
in the Geneva area. The most difficult thing was being good
enough an actor to convince them Santa Claus came all the
way from Lapland driving a Chevrolet Captiva 4x4!” he
said. During his visit Menu presented the children with 1/43
model cars, Chevrolet WTCC caps and the limited edition of
Race, the WTCC PC game.
THOMPSON REPLACES BUTTON IN PARIS
SEAT Sport’s James Thompson has been drafted in as
Jenson Button's replacement at Team Autosport England for
this weekend's Race of Champions at Paris-St. Denis Stade
de France. Button has been forced out of the event because
of the rib injury he picked up whilst karting recently.
Thompson is the third WTCC driver selected for the Race of
Champions, joining World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx
and Yvan Muller; in the ROC Nations Cup he will drive alongside
Priaulx for the English team.
Muller will team with Paris-Dakar ace Stéphane Peterhansel
in the France 2 squad.
FARFUS WINS EUROTOURING TROPHY
Augusto Farfus said goodbye to Alfa Romeo on high note last
Sunday, winning the Bomb Boogie Eurotouring Trophy at the
Bologna Motor Show. The Brazilian youngster – who has
signed to race next year’s WTCC with BMW – drove
his N.technology Alfa Romeo 156 car to victory after a number
of close pursuit races in front of packed grandstands. In
the qualifying tournament Farfus emerged as the winner of
the Yellow Group ahead of Roberto Colciago (SEAT León),
freshly crowned Italian Superturismo champion; while Gabriele
Tarquini (SEAT León) and Alessandro Zanardi (BMW 320si)
were eliminated.
Moto GP ace Marco Melandri caused a surprise as he won the
Green Group at the wheel of a DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156;
Nicola Larini and his Chevrolet qualified second to proceed
to the semi-finals, while Melandri’s fellow Moto GP
rider Loris Capirossi (SEAT León) and Jörg Müller
(BMW 320si) remained out of the final phase. In the first
semi-final Larini prevailed over Farfus in the first run,
but the Brazilian won the second and the access to the final
as the sum of his times was only 0.02 seconds faster than
his rivals. Same story in the second semi-final: Melandri
and Colciago won one run apiece, but the SEAT driver qualified
for the final with a 1.18 seconds margin. Colciago won the
first final run, beating Farfus by 0.67 seconds, but the Alfa
Romeo man got his revenge in the second run by 1.83 and prevailed
in the final classification by 1.16. Melandri beat Larini
in the final for third place.
S2000 CARS SWITCH TO BIOETHANOL
Volvo is the first car manufacturer who committed to use
bioethanol fuel on their Super 2000 racing cars. Polestar
Racing team will run two Volvo S60s cars working with E85
environmental bioethanol fuel in the 2007 Swedish Touring
Car Championship.
“Environment is a Volvo core value, and our motor sport
history shows that we have always been on pole position in
terms of environmental development. Among other things, Volvo
was the first marque to use a catalytic converter in the British
Touring Car Championship in 1994,” said Alexander Murdzevski
Schedvin, director of motor sport at Volvo Cars Sweden.
Another STCC team – Flash Engineering – is due
to use bioethanol to feed their BMW 320si cars. Both, Polestar
Racing and Flash Engineering, are evaluating the possibility
of taking part in selected rounds of the 2007 FIA WTCC.
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