FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 33 – 24 August 2007
19-YEAR OLD RUSSIAN JOINS GR ASIA
Timur Sadredinov will join the GR Asia team for this weekend’s
meeting in Oschersleben. The 19-year old from Moscow will
become the youngest driver ever to compete in the FIA World
Touring Car Championship.
Sadredinov, who was classified second in last year’s
FIA European Super Production Cup at Estoril behind fellow
countryman Alexander Lvov and is now regarded as one of the
most promising prospects for Russian motor sport, is currently
competing in the German SEAT León Supercópa.
Therefore it was the logical move for him taking the wheel
of a GR Asia WTCC SEAT León alongside the team’s
regular drivers Tom Coronel and Maurizio Ceresoli.
“I’m very pleased to have him in the team. We
are currently negotiating to find an agreement also for the
next rounds at Brands Hatch and Monza,” GR Asia’s
team principal Paul Ridgway said.
"I still can't believe that my dream comes true. I will
try my best to achieve some good results with the help from
the team and Tom Coronel. I know Oschersleben from my SEAT
Supercópa experience and I'm looking forward at the
moment I will do my very first lap in a WTCC car," Sadredinov
commented.
ZANARDI AND PORTEIRO AT MAGIONE
BMW Team Italy-Spain spent one day of testing in Magione,
setting up Alessandro Zanardi’s and Félix Porteiro’s
cars for the German event.
"We wanted to check some details and the Magione track
has a number of similarities to Oschersleben. On top of that
the weather was cloudy, like the one we expect to have in
Germany," team manager Roberto Ravaglia explained. And
project manager Umberto Grano echoed: "Theoretically
Oschersleben is a good track for BMW and our cars are nearly
ballast-free. I think we have a good opportunity to claim
good results; the test gave us positive feedback which made
me quite optimistic for the weekend."
FREITAS REJOINS IN OSCHERSLEBEN
Miguel Freitas rejoins the FIA WTCC this weekend
in Oschersleben after he was forced to miss the previous race
meeting at Anderstorp because his Alfa Romeo 156 had suffered
from extensive damage in a dramatic crash during the first
race on the street circuit of Porto.
The Racing for Belgium team have worked hard to rebuild the
car to enable the Portuguese youngster, who is currently lying
ninth in the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy, to take
part in the German. “The car is now in perfect running
order and we have fitted a new works engine which should allow
us to close in on the top independents. But we had no time
to actually carry out any tests and this is obviously not
the ideal situation,” team manager Wim Coekelbergs explained.
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CORONEL STARRED AT ROTTERDAM
Last Sunday Tom Coronel was one of the major attractions at
the spectacular and unique Rotterdam City Racing event in
Holland. After some blistering F1 demonstrations by the Renault
and Spyker F1 teams, over 500,000 spectators watched Tom Coronel
driving his SEAT León WTCC car through the streets
of Rotterdam along a 4,365 meter track.
Tom provided a wonderful show, burning some rubber and promoting
what the WTCC championship is all about. A second GR Asia
SEAT León car also took part in the event, with Tom’s
twin brother Tim and F1 TV commentator Olav Mol sharing the
wheel and driving at high speed over the city’s famous
Erasmus bridge. The Rotterdam City Racing event was organised
for the third consecutive year and was attended by famous
drivers like Heikki Kovalainen, Adrian Sutil, Christijan Albers
and Robert Doornbos.
THE WEEKEND’S TRACK ACTIVITIES IN OSCHERSLEBEN
The FIA WTCC competitors will hit the track for the first
time tomorrow at 9.00 for the first 30-minute free practice
session. Second free practice will follow at 11.30 and qualifying
at 15.00.
On Sunday, the 15-minute warm up will take place at 8.30,
while the two 14-lap races will start at 12.05 and 16.05 respectively.
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