FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 5 – 8 February 2007
THREE COLLECTIVE TESTS IN EUROPE
The FIA WTCC competitors will take part in three collective
test sessions during the month of April, in order to be prepared
for the European season that will start in Zandvoort, Netherlands,
on May 6th.
List of collective tests
April 3rd and 4th Brno, Czech Republic April 16th and 17th
Oschersleben, Germany April 24th and 25th Monza, Italy No
further collective test sessions will be organised during
the season.
FIVE TEST SESSIONS ON FRIDAY
On five of the eleven race meetings, competitors will be
given the chance to take part in a 30-minute test session
on the Friday afternoon of the race weekend, with the exception
of Macau, where the test session will be held on Thursday.
These extra sessions have been approved by the FIA Touring
Car Bureau to enable the competitors to check their cars after
the overseas journeys or to learn the new venues included
in the calendar. At all the other events track activities
will be limited to two days: Saturday and Sunday.
List of test sessions
Friday, 9th March Curitiba, Brazil Friday, 4th May Zandvoort,
Netherlands Friday, 1st June Pau, France Friday, 6th July
Porto, Portugal Thursday, 15th November Macau
SEAT TESTED IN BARCELONA
The SEAT Sport team completed a two day test at Barcelona’s
Catalunya racetrack. The Spanish team shook down the 2007
León cars that will be shipped to Curitiba, Brazil,
in the coming days, but also focused on different set-up solutions,
aerodynamic adjustments and improvement on the standing start.
All four SEAT Sport drivers attended the test: Yvan Muller
and Gabriele Tarquini on Monday, Jordi Gené and Michel
Jourdain on Wedenesday, but the former completed some laps
also on the first day.
The team dedicated special attention to the apprenticeship
of Jourdain; the Mexican driver completed 75 laps and used
Gené as a benchmark.
“It was not an easy task for him,” SEAT Sport
director Jaime Puig commented “because this is Jordi’s
home track. However every time Michel drives the León
he is quicker. He will need some more time to get used to
the front-wheel drive, but he has the potential to become
competitive.”
The Spanish team will test again in Valencia next week, on
February 14 and 15.
SERGIO HERNÁNDEZ JOINS PROTEAM
Proteam Motorsport signed 22-year old Sergio Hernández
for the 2007 season. The young Spaniard had his first drive
for the team on Tuesday at Magione, Italy, in the BMW 320si
that was in the hands of his new team-mate Luca Rangoni during
last year’s WTCC.
Like fellow countryman Félix Porteiro, who has recently
joined the BMW Team Italy- Spain, Hernández will face
his first Touring Car campaign after he built his racing career
claiming podium results and championship points in single
seaters, moving from Formula 3 – the Spanish and the
British championships – to the World Series and finally
the GP2 in 2005 and 2006.
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