FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 37 – 19 October 2006
LAUNCH OF THE 53rd MACAU GRAND PRIX The
53rd Macau Grand Prix was launched on Monday at Macau; the
event will include the FIA World Touring Car Championship’s
final meeting as well as the FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental
Cup and the 40th Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix.
During a crowded press conference held at the Fisherman’s
Warf Convention Centre, engineer João Manuel Costa
Antunes, coordinator of the Macau Grand Prix Committee presented
the event in detail to a large representative of the local
press.
“Of the many international sporting events hosted by
our city, the Macau Grand Prix has the longest history and
serves well to boost our tourism industry and raise the profile
of Macau across the world,” he said.
As for the second appearance of the FIA WTCC in Macau, Mr
Costa Antunes commented: “Once again the title will
be decided here and, with no fewer than nine drivers in contention
to clinch the world champion’s crown, this event has
already been described as the most open series final in motor
sport history.”
ALFA ROMEO’S UNEXPECTED LEADERSHIP
“If somebody had told me at the beginning of the season
that one of my drivers was leading the classification before
Macau, I would have said he was crazy,” N.technology
boss Mauro Sipsz commented in Valencia after Augusto Farfus
emerged as the new championship leader.
And yet the Brazilian youngster benefited from the 11th change
at the top and ousted Andy Priaulx. It is the first time Farfus
leads the points as, since the season’s opening round
at Monza, the leadership has bounced back and forth between
Priaulx and SEAT’s men Muller, Thompson and Tarquini.
Farfus’ lead was unexpected, not only because the N.technology
team is running on a reduced budget, but also because the
Alfa Romeo 156 is the oldest car in the field, in its ninth
and last racing season.
FARFUS IS A HEAVYWEIGHT IN MACAU Augusto
Farfus will arrive in Macau as the leader of the FIA WTCC,
but also as the heaviest driver. The Brazilian youngster will
have the maximum applicable ballast on board his Alfa Romeo
156. And he must thank the regulations that limit the handicap
weight to 80 kg, otherwise he would have forced to carry a
total of 90 extra kilos considering the previous event’s
results and the championship points. Jörg Müller,
who is joint second in the championship together with Andy
Priaulx, will be only 5 kilos lighter than Farfus. All the
other title contenders have considerably less weight, from
the 45 kg of Priaulx and Tarquini down to the 20 kg of Thompson
and Yvan Muller.
New to the handicap weight list are Luca Rangoni (45 kg due
to his extraordinary performance in Valencia) and Duncan Huisman;
with only a 5 kg handicap the latter will have another excellent
opportunity to increase his winning record in Macau. An automatic
20 kg handicap will be imposed to the newcomers, André
Couto of SEAT Sport and Jan Magnussen of BMW UK.
Driver handicap for results in the previous meetings handicap
for the championship points total handicap
Augusto Farfus 20 kg + 40 kg = 60 kg 30 kg 80 kg *
Jörg Müller 30 kg + 20 kg = 50 kg 25 kg 75 kg
Andy Priaulx 40 kg – 20 kg = 20 kg 25 kg 45 kg
Gabriele Tarquini 40 kg – 20 kg = 20 kg 25 kg 45 kg
Luca Rangoni 0 kg + 40 kg = 40 kg 5 kg 45 kg
Rickard Rydell 30 kg – 20 kg = 10 kg 25 kg 35 kg
Dirk Müller 30 kg – 20 kg = 10 kg 25 kg 35 kg
Peter Terting 20 kg – 10 kg = 10 kg 20 kg 30 kg
James Thompson 10 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 20 kg 20 kg
Yvan Muller 10 kg – 15 kg = 0 kg 20 kg 20 kg
Nicola Larini 0 kg + 10 kg = 10 kg 10 kg 20 kg
André Couto 0 kg 0 kg 20 kg °
Jan Magnussen 0 kg 0 kg 20 kg °
Jordi Gené 0 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 15 kg 15 kg
Alex Zanardi 10 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 10 kg 10 kg
Robert Huff 0 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 10 kg 10 kg
Alain Menu 0 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 10 kg 10 kg
Gianni Morbidelli 10 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 10 kg 10 kg
Salvatore Tavano 0 kg – 5 kg = 0 kg 5 kg 5 kg
Tom Coronel 0 kg – 20 kg = 0 kg 5 kg 5 kg
Duncan Huisman 0 kg + 0 kg = 0 kg 5 kg 5 kg
* Maximum handicap applicable
° Newcomer to the championship
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