FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 25 – 29 June 2007
ROUTE TO: PORTO, PORTUGAL
The 11th and 12th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take
place next week in Portugal, on the Circuito da Boavista,
that winds along the streets of Porto, the country’s
second largest city and famous for its homonymous wine.
The non-permanent racetrack, that was partly paved with cobblestones
and crossed by tram rails, began to be used for national races
back in 1951; in its golden years it hosted twice the Formula
One Portuguese Grand Prix, in 1958 and 1960 – won by
Stirling Moss’ Vanwall and Jack Brabham’s Cooper
respectively.
The Circuito da Boavista was finally revived in 2005, for
the Grande Prémio Historico do Porto, whose second
edition will take place on the weekend after the WTCC’s.
GRANDE PRÉMIO DO PORTO LAUNCHED YESTERDAY
The Grande Prémio do Porto WTCC Race of Portugal was
launched yesterday at Porto’s Palácio de Cristal
in front of large media representative. Portuguese drivers
Tiago Monteiro, Miguel Freitas and Luís Pedro Magalhães
attended the event, together with the city’s Mayor Mr
Rui Rio and the event promoter Francisco Santos. “When,
back in 2003, we started talking about reviving the Circuito
da Boavista we thought it was a very difficult task, but not
impossible. And now we are here to launch the second edition
that includes a competitive World Championship. This is a
source of pride for the city of Porto that will benefit from
large TV exposure worldwide,” said the Mayor.
MAXIMUM BALLAST FOR FARFUS AND MÜLLER
For the second event running championship leader Augusto Farfus
has to race with the maximum ballast onboard. He is joined
on 60 kg by team-mate Jörg Müller, while Andy Priaulx
lost 5 kilos following Brno.
60 kg Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller
55 kg Andy Priaulx
50 kg Yvan Muller and Nicola Larini
35 kg Gabriele Tarquini
30 kg Félix Porteiro and James Thompson
20 kg Tiago Monteiro
10 kg Alessandro Zanardi, Alain Menu and Luís Pedro
Magalhães
5 kg Luca Rangoni, Jordi Gené and Robert Huff
YOKOHAMA CONFIRMED UNTIL 2009
Last Wednesday, following an invitation to tender, the FIA
World Motor Sport Council appointed the Yokohama Rubber Company
to supply the control tyre for the 2008 and 2009 FIA World
Touring Car Championships. This is the third consecutive year
the Japanese manufacturer has won the tender. 2
ROBERTO COLCIAGO BACK ON TRACK
After he was forced to miss the previous race meeting in Brno,
for the consequences of a paddock incident occurred on Saturday
afternoon at Pau – that cost him a dislocated shoulder
– Roberto Colciago will rejoin in Porto. The Italian
independent will be at the wheel of his SEAT León car
run by SEAT Sport Italia team, driven by his substitute Massimiliano
Pedalà in the Czech Republic.
PTCC AND ITCC MERGE AT BOAVISTA
The WTCC Race of Portugal will include rounds counting
towards the Portuguese Touring Car Championship (PTCC) and
the Italian Touring Cars Competition (ITCC), both open to
FIA S2000 cars and other categories. PTCC and ITCC competitors
will face each other in two 50-km races on Sunday, at 8.50
am and 3.20 pm.
EUROSPORT COVERAGE FROM PORTO
Saturday, 7th: Qualifying Eurosport 2, 19.00/19.30
Sunday, 8th: Warm up – LIVE Eurosport International,
09.00/09.15
Race 1 – LIVE Eurosport 2, 10.55/11.45
Race 2 – LIVE Eurosport International, 17.00/18.15
Times are CET (Central European Time)
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