FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 22 – 7 July 2006
NEXT STOP: PUEBLA-AMOZOC, MEXICO
The first overseas event of the 2006 FIA WTCC season has
just been put in the archives, and already a new one is impending.
The 11th and 12th rounds of the championship will be held
at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed located in Amozoc,
20 km from the city of Puebla, Mexico.
After rounding the mid season buoy, the fights for both the
Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles are still very
close. BMW team UK’s reigning world champion Andy Priaulx
is back in solo lead, having scored four victories and 44
points so far. However he is closely chased by two SEAT Sport
men: his fellow countryman James Thompson (41 points) and
Gabriele Tarquini from Italy (40). Two other SEAT drivers
– Rickard Rydell and Yvan Muller – are sitting
in fourth and fifth positions, only 10 and 11 points behind
the leader respectively. BMW Team Germany’s Dirk Müller
and SEAT Sport’s Peter Terting are joint one further
point adrift.
The situation in the Manufacturers’ Championship is
even closer, with SEAT edging ahead of BMW by one mere point.
ANDY PRIAULX ON MAXIMUM HANDICAP
Andy Priaulx is the first driver to reach the maximum handicap
weight during the current season. Following his victory in
the second race at Curitiba, the Briton will carry 80 kg on
board his BMW 320si in Mexico.
His closest followers in the championship points will drive
much lighter cars: Thompson’s SEAT will be loaded with
60 extra kilos and Tarquini’s with 45. A new entry in
the handicap chart is Gianni Morbidelli whose brilliant second
place in Curitiba Race 2 has resulted in 25 kilos of ballast.
Driver - handicap for results in the previous meetings
-handicap for the
championship points - total handicap
Andy Priaulx 50 kg + 40 kg = 60 kg * 20 kg 80 kg
James Thompson 40 kg + 0 kg = 40 kg 20 kg 60 kg
Peter Terting 0 kg + 40 kg = 40 kg 15 kg 55 kg
Dirk Müller 55 kg – 20 kg = 35 kg 15 kg 50 kg
Jörg Müller 50 kg – 20 kg = 30 kg 15 kg 45
kg
Gabriele Tarquini 25 kg + 0 kg = 25 kg 20 kg 45 kg
Rickard Rydell 40 kg – 20 kg = 20 kg 15 kg 35 kg
Yvan Muller 40 kg – 20 kg = 20 kg 15 kg 35 kg
Augusto Farfus 30 kg – 10 kg = 20 kg 10 kg 30 kg
Jordi Gené 0 kg + 20 kg = 20 kg 10 kg 30 kg
Gianni Morbidelli 0 kg + 20 kg = 20 kg 5 kg 25 kg
Alain Menu 10 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 5 kg 5 kg
* maximum handicap applicable
YOKOHAMA CONFIRMED AS WTCC TYRE SUPPLIER
Last Wednesday, following an invitation to tender, the FIA
World Motor Sport Council appointed the Yokohama Rubber Company
to supply the control tyre for the 2007 FIA World Touring
Car Championship.
This is the second consecutive year the Japanese manufacturer
has won the tender. "The confirmed appointment is again
a great honour for Yokohama. For this year's events so far,
we are proud to have given our contribution to make the series
extremely competitive, with both the front and rear wheel
drive cars capable of winning races with our control tyres.
We wish another prosperous year for the championship in 2007
and we are looking forward to be part of it again," commented
Shinichi Mori, General Manager of Yokohama Motorsport Department.
THE VOYAGE FROM BRAZIL TO MEXICO
The FIA WTCC cars are on their way from Curitiba to Puebla.
All the 25 cars and their relevant spare parts have been placed
in 28 containers, forming a convoy of 14 trucks that drove
from the Autódromo Internacional de Curitba to the
harbour of Itajai under the escort of the Policia Federál
of the States of Paraná and Santa Caterina.
The precious cargo will sail from Itajai on Friday night,
on board the Libra Santos vessel, which is due to dock in
Vera Cruz, Mexico on July 21st.
From Vera Cruz the containers will reach the Puebla-Amozoc
circuit on the road. A further container, full of Yokohama
tyres, has been shipped from Europe.
CARS REPAIRED BEFORE DEPARTURE
Both cars – Emmet O’Brien’s BMW and Alain
Menu’s Chevrolet – which were involved in crashes
at the last corner during Curitiba’s Race 2, have been
already repaired on Sunday evening.
Although both impacts were spectacular, the tyre wall worked
very well and none of the two cars suffered from massive damages.
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