FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 24 – 21 July 2006
PROMOTIONAL DAY IN PUEBLA ON 27th JULY
The WTCC Movistar Race of Mexico will have its official start
on Thursday, July 27, with a promotional day.
Like last year the drivers will parade on board pick-up trucks
from Avenida Juárez, Puebla’s most elegant street,
through Avenida Reforma until the Zócalo, Puebla’s
central square
There, some of the racing cars will be exhibited between
the Cathedral and the City Hall, and two giant screens will
show footage of the current WTCC season. An autograph session
will also be organised. Last year the drivers were literally
swept away by the enthusiastic crowd.
The parade will start at 4.00 PM.
JAS: CORTHALS BACK AT THE WHEEL
After missing the previous meeting at Curitiba, where he
was replaced by Fabrizio Giovanardi, in Puebla Pierre-Yves
Corthals will be back at the wheel of his JAS Motorsport Honda
Accord Euro R. The Belgian driver is due to stay for the rest
of the season.
EXTRA TEST SESSION FOR WTCC IN PUEBLA
The FIA has authorized a private 30-minute test session on
Friday, July 28, at 2.30 PM local time. The session was approved
by the WTCC Bureau to give teams the possibility to check
their cars after the trip from Brazil to Mexico.
MEXICAN RACES EARLIER DUE TO TV COVERAGE
Like in Curitiba three weeks ago, the two WTCC races in Mexico
will be held earlier than normal: Race 1 will start at 1.05
PM local time, followed by Race 2 at 2.15 PM. This change
to the standard timetable has been made in order to enable
Eurosport to broadcast the event live in Europe on Sunday
evening, as Mexico is seven hours behind the Central European
Time.
ZANARDI TO RACE AT MUGELLO ON SUNDAY
Just before leaving for Mexico, this weekend Alessandro Zanardi
will take part in the Italian Superturismo Championship meeting
at Mugello.
The BMW Team Italy-Spain’s man, who clinched the 2005
national title, is currently lying 5th in the classification,
12 points behind the leader Alessandro Balzan. Zanardi has
claimed two victories so far – in Monza and Magny-Cours
– but failed to score in two races out of the six that
have taken place.
CAMPEONATO NACIONAL CARRERAS TO COMPLETE PROGRAMME
The timetable of the WTCC Movistar Race of Mexico will be
completed by the Campeonato Nacional CARreras. This important
Mexican series is comprised of three different categories:
Clásicos de Competencia, Fórmula Vee and Pick
Up’s. On Saturday afternoon nearly 30 classic racing
cars – Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Mini, MG, Porsche, Ford,
Datsun and Corvette – will make the grid for the 40-minute
race counting towards the Clásicos de Competencia series.
On Sunday morning the young drivers of the Fórmula
Vee México will provide a prelude to the FIA WTCC races.
With three rounds of the championship held so far, Héctor
Félix and Jorge Francisco Hernández lead the
Expertos and Novatos classifications respectively.
Pick Up’s drivers will hit the track on Sunday afternoon,
closing the event. In their machines – powered by a
V8 Dodge Magnum capable of 380 BHP – they will fight
for the fifth round of the series, which is quickly gaining
prestige. Félix Palazuelos is currently on top of the
points.
The three supporting categories will use the circuit’s
shorter layout – 3,030 m – with the pit-lane along
the South banking.
WTCC DRIVERS SHINE IN NATIONAL SERIES
During the past weekend SEAT Sport’s James Thompson
and BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Duncan Huisman have claimed
excellent results in national touring car championships. Thompson,
who is currently second in the FIA WTCC Drivers’ Championship,
collected one victory and one second place in the fifth meeting
of the British Touring Car Championship at Croft. At the wheel
of his SEAT Sport UK car, he set pole position in qualifying
and dominated Race 1, before handing the lead to team-mate
Jason Plato on the last lap. Later in the day Thompson was
classified sixth in Race 2 and finally won Race 3 with a clear
margin. This was his third BTCC win of the season meaning
he climbed to fourth in the drivers’ classification
even though he missed the previous meeting which clashed with
WTCC.
Huisman finished third at Falkenberg in the fourth round
of the Swedish Touring Car Championship driving a West Coast
Racing BMW 320i; the Dutchman had claimed a similar result
in the series’ previous meeting and has now moved up
to third in the points, only one point behind Volvo’s
Robert Dahlgren.
EUROSPORT COVERAGE FROM PUEBLA (CET)
Friday, 28th: FIA WTCC Magazine EUROSPORT, 08.30/09.00
Saturday, 29th: Qualifying – LIVE EUROSPORT 2, 21.30/22.00
Sunday, 30th: Qualifying – repeat EUROSPORT, 09.30/10.00
Race 1 and Race 2 – LIVE EUROSPORT, 19.45/21.45
Tuesday, 2nd: Race 1 and Race 2 – repeat EUROSPORT,
08.30/09.30
FIA WTCC Magazine EUROSPORT, 20.00/20.30
Race 1 and Race 2 – repeat EUROSPORT 2, 22.00/23.00
Wednesday, 3rd: FIA WTCC Magazine EUROSPORT 2, 18.30/19.00
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