FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 19 – 16 June 2006
HUISMAN JOINS ZANARDI AT BMW TEAM ITALY-SPAIN
From the FIA WTCC meeting in Curitiba, Duncan Huisman will
join BMW Team Italy- Spain, replacing Marcel Costa alongside
Alessandro Zanardi.
"I am very happy to welcome Duncan to our team,"
team manager Roberto Ravaglia commented. "He will bring
a lot of experience to the team and I am convinced he will
be of great help in exploiting the potential of the car."
Huisman, 34-years-old from the Netherlands, has proved to
be a very successful Touring Car driver. Among his victories
are three Dutch championships, the 2003 FIA European Touring
Car Championship Independents’ Trophy and five wins
in the Macau Guia Race, including last year’s, on his
only WTCC appearance so far.
"I am very happy that BMW Team Italy-Spain have given
me the opportunity to return to the WTCC. I will meet the
team on the Adria Raceway in Italy this week, for the seat
fitting and a first set-up of the car. Together with BMW Team
Germany, we will then travel to Budapest for some tests, and
I can't wait for it to happen."
BRAZILIAN TEAM TO RACE ALFA ROMEO IN CURITIBA
The FIA WTCC will welcome a Brazilian team and driver for
the next race meeting in Curitiba. TekProm that was created
in 2003 but has already proved to be competitive achieving
important results in national races, have entered a former
WTCC Alfa Romeo 156 built in Italy by N.technology.
In 2005 this car participated in three rounds of the Brazilian
Endurance championship, claiming two victories and one second
place, which meant a second position in the series’
final classification. At the beginning of the current season
the TekProm Alfa Romeo won its class in the Mil Milhas de
Interlagos.
The 23-year old Lucas Molo will take the wheel of the Alfa
Romeo for the WTCC event. He started racing in the Italian
Formula 3 championship and since he came back to Brazil he
raced in the Renault Clio Cup and claimed some outstanding
results in endurance races such as the 1000 Km de Brasília
and the Mil Milhas de Interlagos. In 2004 and 2005 Molo won
the Endurance national title in a TekProm Ferrari.
PROMOTIONAL DAY IN CURITIBA ON 29TH JUNE
The WTCC HSBC Race of Brazil will have its official start
on Thursday, June 29, with a promotional day involving drivers
and press. From 10.00 AM the racing cars will be exhibited
in front of the HSBC building in Rua das Flores, while the
drivers will parade onboard pick-up trucks through the city
centre until they arrive in Rua das Flores, where they will
take part in two autograph sessions at 12.00 (noon) and 2.00
PM. The press will join the drivers at 3.00 PM for a sightseeing
tour of Curitiba that will be followed by a press conference
at the Graciosa Country Club at 5.00 PM, hosted by Mr Beto
Richa, governor of Curitiba, and Mr Jacques Behar, president
of KSO.
TOO MANY KILOS FOR GABRIELE TARQUINI…
A trivial typing mistake in editing the previous newsletter
resulted in 15 kilos of ballast being added to Gabriele Tarquini’s
SEAT. Although the two partial handicaps – 25kg for
results in the previous events and 15kg for championship points
– were correctly listed, mistakenly reported was a total
of 55kg instead 40.
Please find herebelow the amended handicap weight
list.
Driver handicap for results in the previous meetings - handicap
for the championship points - total handicap
Dirk Müller 15 kg + 40 kg = 55 kg 15 kg 70 kg
Andy Priaulx 40 kg + 10 kg = 50 kg 15 kg 65 kg
Jörg Müller 20 kg + 30 kg = 50 kg 10 kg 60 kg
Rickard Rydell 30 kg + 10 kg = 40 kg 15 kg 55 kg
Yvan Muller 60 kg – 20 kg = 40 kg 15 kg 55 kg
James Thompson 45 kg – 5 kg = 40 kg 15 kg 55 kg
Gabriele Tarquini 30 kg – 5 kg = 25 kg 15 kg 40 kg
Augusto Farfus 10 kg + 20 kg = 30 kg 10 kg 40 kg
Alain Menu 30 kg – 20 kg = 10 kg 5 kg 15 kg
Peter Terting 0 kg + 0 kg = 0 kg 10 kg 10 kg
Jordi Gené 0 kg + 0 kg = 0 kg 5 kg 5 kg
FOOTBALL FEVER HITS WTCC
The football World Cup is now well underway and people from
around the world are supporting their home team in the bid
for glory. The WTCC is a truly global championship so we spoke
to a selection of people about their football fever.
England: Robert Huff, Chevrolet. “I’m
not normally a football fan but in the World Cup I go to the
pub with my mates and watch the matches in the beer garden.”
Sweden: Rickard Rydell, SEAT. “I will
be following every Sweden game! Usually I watch it with family
and friends. Last time everyone came to our house and we had
a few beers. Sweden is a small country but we have some great
players and I have faith in them.”
Netherlands: Tom Coronel, GR Asia. “My
whole country is supporting our team, there is a lot of interest.
We are one of the favourites and are sure to win! I like to
meet up with friends in a bar and watch the game, and beer
seems to compliment it very well.”
Japan: Kazuyoshi Sekiguchi, Yokohama. “I
am a fan of football and the World Cup is the moment when
I feel I am Japanese. Therefore, last match; Japan vs Australia
(1 - 3), was painful. I watched it in my office, and I could
not work anymore on that day!”
|
