FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 21 – 31 May 2007
SHAKE DOWN FOR BELTOISE
On Tuesday Anthony Beltoise had his first contact with the
Exagon Racing team and the SEAT León car he will drive
this weekend at Pau, on his maiden appearance in the FIA WTCC.
However the son of former F1 Grand Prix winer Jean-Pierre
Beltoise is not new to Touring Car, having won the 1999 24
Hours of Spa at the wheel of a Super Production Peugeot 306
Gti.
Beltoise shook his car down at the Pau-Arnos racetrack, a
few kilometres away from the Pau street circuit that will
host the championship’s rounds 7 and 8 on Sunday. “The
car requires a special driving finesse, and this won’t
be easy to do on the streets of Pau. I was especially impressed
by the gearbox, which is quick and precise in shifting,”
said the Frenchman.
Beltoise’s car will be run by Luc Marchetti’s
Exagon Racing, alongside that of the team’s regular
driver Pierr-Yves Corthals. The SEAT will be equipped with
onboard cameras in order to give viewers the best possible
inside look at an FIA WTCC race during the live broadcast
on TF1, and the driver will be permantly linked via radio
to journalist Thomas Senecal at the studio. “I like
WTCC and never miss to watch the races on TV. This was a great
present I received from TF1, Eurosport and SEAT France,”
commented Beltoise.
HANDICAPS FOR FARFUS AND TARQUINI
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany) and Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT
Sport), who are currently lying third and fifth respectively
in the championship standings, face this weekend’s WTCC
Race of France meeting at Pau knowing that they have to cope
with an important handicap.
Both drivers were given a 10 position drop on the starting
grid for the first race, as the Stewards judged them responsible
for causing two avoidable collisions in Valencia’s Race
1.
Tarquini caused the pile-up at the start that eliminated
six cars including his own, while in the late stages of the
same race Farfus was involved in a clash with Tom Coronel
and Stefano D’Aste, while they were fighting for the
10th position. Recovering from their handicaps on Pau’s
infamous street circuit won’t be an easy task for them.
QUALIFYING SESSION IS LONGER
This weekend at Pau the FIA WTCC qualifying will be held
for the first time on the extended duration of 45 minutes,
from 3.00 to 3.45 pm.
This means an extra 15 minutes compared to the usual 30.
Longer qualifying sessions will also take place later in the
season at Porto and Macau.
This change has been introduced in order to limit the problems
that might occurr on street circuits, like last year in Macau,
when two red flags and a shower permitted the drivers to complete
only two attempts for posting a qualifying lap.
THE WEEKEND’S TRACK ACTIVITIES IN PAU
As Pau 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. On Sunday drivers will take part in
one 15-minute warm up session and two 19-lap races. The first
race has been anticipated to 10.05 in order to permit live
broadcast on the French premiere terrestrial channel TF1.
Friday, June 1st 15.00/15.30 Test
Saturday, June 2nd 08.45/09.15 Free Practice 1
11.25/11.55 Free Practice 2
15.00/15.45 Qualifying
Sunday, June 3rd 08.00/08.15 Warm up
10.05 Race 1
15.35 Race 2
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