FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 30 – 3 August 2007
RECORD AUDIENCES FOR WTCC IN SWEDEN
A record number of Swedish viewers switched on Eurosport
to watch live broadcasting of the FIA World Touring Car Championship
races from Anderstorp, resulting in the highest market share
on Sunday afternoon between 14.15 and 15.15. Audience share
of live broadcast of Race 1 totalled 11%, while that of live
broadcast of the second race reached 15.4% according to the
figures released by MMS.
CHEVROLET’S MAGIC WEEKEND
Chevrolet dominated in Anderstorp. Under weather conditions
that changed dramatically and in front of a crowd of 28,000,
the blue Lacetti cars scored a double victory with Robert
Huff in Race 1 and Rickard Rydell in Race 2. The latter led
home a Chevrolet trio, with Nicola Larini and Alain Menu on
his tail.
With the BMW men in troubles on the slippery track –
only Farfus scored one point – Anderstorp’s results
enabled Larini and Menu to close on the leading BMW trio.
Jörg Müller remains on top, closely followed by
Farfus and Priaulx (1 and 2 points behind respectively); the
German has a 10-point margin ahead of Larini, while Menu lies
3 further points adrift. Yvan Muller and Tarquini, the best
SEAT men, are 6th and 7th with gaps of 16 and 17 points.
The championship will resume at Oschersleben, Germany, on
August 25th and 26th for round 15 and 16.
TDI LEÓN IMPRESSES ON DEBUT
The new SEAT León TDI made a convincing debut at Anderstorp.
The Spanish machine, the first to use a turbo diesel engine
in a World Championship, showed its potential in spite of
the difficult weather conditions that plagued WTCC’s
Swedish weekend.
The first hint of how competitive the car could be came from
the second practice, when Jordi Gené clocked the 4th
fastest time, only 3 tenths slower than Monteiro in the petrol-powered
sister car. Later Gené qualified 6th.
In the early stages of the first race the Spaniard was the
only one capable to keep Huff’s pace and held 2nd place
until had tyre problems. His team mate Yvan Muller finished
6th, scoring the first ‘diesel points’. “I
could have been on the podium for sure,” said Gené
The second race was less lucky. Gené stalled at the
start due to a technical problem, while Muller retired with
a power-steering failure when he was fighting again for points.
“I’m more than happy with the performance of
the TDI; we had some problems, but I hope we can solve them
quite easily. We could have done better in the second race,
but I think the debut went well,” SEAT Sport director
Jaime Puig commented.
VIRTUAL POINT FOR THE GREEN VOLVO
If it hadn’t be transparent (because it was accepted
on the basis of national homologation), the bio-ethanol powered
Volvo S60 of Robert Dahlgren would have scored one point on
its first appearance in the FIA WTCC.
During the Anderstorp weekend Dahlgren and Polestar Racing
showed the potential of the car – the first to compete
in a World Championship with a bio-fuelled engine. In both
races The Swede went for slick tyres and finished 10th in
Race 1 close to Menu and Rydell. He also set the second fastest
lap, 2 tenths slower than Menu’s. In Race 2 Dahlgren
fought with Tarquini, Farfus and Jörg Müller; he
eventually crossed the line 8th, but the final point was awarded
to Farfus. “I’m pleased for the team and for Volvo
that we have shown we can score a virtual point driving on
ethanol. It was our target to finish in the top eight and
I can only dream of where I could have finished if I’d
had a good qualifying,” said the Swede.
CORONEL FIGHTS LIKE A LION
At Anderstorp Tom Coronel fought like a lion, making life
tough for the manufacturers’ works drivers. In both
races the Dutchman and his GR Asia SEAT León car were
running as high as third, and it was only in the final stages
that they lost two podium results by inches. With two fourth
places, the Swedish weekend was the best so far in the season
for Coronel, who also managed to score a total of 9 points
for SEAT in the Manufacturers Championship.
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