FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 26 – 5 July 2007
PORTO’S MAYOR RECEIVE DRIVERS
The Mayor of Porto, Mr Rui Rio, received a delegation of FIA
WTCC drivers this afternoon at Palácio do Freixo, seat
of the City Hall.
Four racing cars – James Thompson’s Alfa Romeo
156, Augusto Farfus’ BMW 320si, Nicola Larini’s
Chevrolet Lacetti and Tiago Monteiro’s SEAT León
– were exhibited in front of the palace.
After the official reception the Mayor and the drivers came
out of the City Hall, posed for a group picture and granted
interviews to TV crews and media.
MONTEIRO LOOKS FORWARD TO HOME RACE
On his first season in the FIA WTCC, Tiago Monteiro has already
proved to be very competitive. SEAT Sport’s Portuguese
driver managed to achieve two podium results in Pau and now
is very much looking forward to race on the streets of his
home town.
“All races in the WTCC are important, but racing in
my home city will give me extra motivation as so many of my
family and friends will be there to watch. I have never raced
there before, and even though I have driven the roads many
times in normal every day motoring, you cannot drive the circuit
like you would in a race car because for half of the lap you
would be on the wrong side of the road!”
FIA WTCC LIVE ON PORTUGUESE TV
RTP, Portugal’s premiere terrestrial TV channel
will grant a huge coverage to this weekend’s FIA WTCC
Race of Portugal in Porto.
RTP will broadcast live the qualifying session on Saturday
and both races on Sunday.
PRIAULX SUPPORTS HIS LOCAL POLICE
Andy Priaulx will be forming a team for the Karting Guernsey
Festival of Motorsport on the 15th July with a dual purpose.
He will be supporting the event in its money raising efforts
for the NSPCC, as well as joining the Guernsey police to launch
a road safety campaign for the island.
The message Andy is promoting with the police is a very serious
one that the track should be used for racing and not the island’s
streets. “In Guernsey we have a lot of young people
known to the locals as ‘Kevs’, who put their own
lives and that of everyone else in danger by racing on our
roads, which are narrow and twisty. I want to try to get these
people to come and drive a kart and then take back the message
of being responsible citizens when behind the wheel of their
road cars,” he said. 2
MENU WELCOMED CHEVROLET RAIDERS
Last Saturday, in Paris’ place Vendôme, Chevrolet
driver Alain Menu welcomed the eleven Chevrolet teams who
participated in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. All the
eleven Chevrolet cars that left Beijing on May 27, arrived
in Paris; they claimed 1st, 2nd and 4th places, making Chevrolet
the winning brand of the raid.
THE WEEKEND’S TRACK ACTIVITIES IN PORTO
As Porto is a new venue for the FIA WTCC competitors, an extra
30-minute test session has been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
Afterwards track activities will follow the usual pattern:
two 30-minute practice sessions and the extended 45-minute
qualifying on Saturday as for the other street circuits (Pau
and Macau). On Sunday drivers will take part in one 15-minute
warm up session and two 11-lap races. The first race has been
anticipated to 10.05 in order to permit live broadcast on
the Portuguese premiere terrestrial channel RTP.
Friday, July 6th 15.30/16.00 Test
Saturday, June 7th 08.45/09.15 Free Practice 1
11.30/12.00 Free Practice 2
15.00/15.45 Qualifying
Sunday, June 3rd 08.00/08.15 Warm up
10.05 Race 1
16.35 Race 2
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