FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 46 – 23 November 2007
RECORD CROWD ATTENDED MACAU EVENT
A record crowd attended the 54th Macau Grand Prix event that
included the FIA WTCC finale.
According to the figures released by the Macau Grand Prix
Committee last Monday, 55,000 spectators gathered on the grandstands
along the Guia Track over the weekend, while an estimated
200,000 more watched the races from hotel rooms, flats and
restaurants’ terraces around the track.
PRIAULX: STORY OF A PHENOMENON
Andy Priaulx began his route to become one of the most successful
touring car drivers ever four years ago when he clinched the
2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship crown in Dubai.
2004: ETCC, DUBAI – He arrived in
the Emirate state with a 12-point gap behind fellow BMW driver
Dirk Müller and finished second in both races, equalling
Müller’s 111 points but beating him by the dead
heat (5 wins against 3).
2005: WTCC, MACAU – In the following
season, the first of the new World Touring Car Championship,
Müller and Priaulx arrived to the last round in Macau
separated by only one point, with Alfa Romeo’s Fabrizio
Giovanardi third with a 5-point gap. Again two second places
enabled Priaulx to overturn the situation.
2006: WTCC, MACAU – No less than nine
drivers arrived in Macau still in contention for the 2006
world championship. Alfa Romeo’s Augusto Farfus was
leading before the final round, only one point ahead of the
Priaulx-Jörg Müller duo. Priaulx set pole position
and won the first race, with Müller sixth; as the German
won the second race a fifth place was enough for Priaulx to
grab his third title by one point.
2007: WTCC, MACAU – The rest is recent
history. For the first time Priaulx arrived at the season’s
finale as the leader of the classification, although on equal
points with Yvan Muller. This did not affect the final result
with Priaulx champion once again.
“I have never given up but I knew I needed something
special this season. Yes, you need luck to win the championship
but you also need to be there to take the luck. Sunday was
my lucky day, but I also had some unlucky days during the
season, like at Brno and Monza. Now I look forward and not
back and that will be the motivation to win again next year.
Sometimes you have to dig deep for motivation but I hope I
continue to feel as I do and keep winning races,” commented
the triple World Champion.
Andy Priaulx was born in Guernsey 33 years ago. During his
three WTCC seasons with BMW UK and Bart Mampaey’s RBM
Team he finished 55 out of the 62 races held (47 of them in
the points), claiming 9 victories, 25 podium results, 4 pole
positions and 4 fastest laps.
ALAIN MENU TOPPED SEASON’S STATISTICS
Alain Menu emerged as the fastest man during the current
season. Chevrolet’s Swiss driver occupied the 6th position
in the championship’s final classification, but topped
most of the statistics. Menu claimed 5 victories (only Priaulx
had managed to do so last year), set 5 pole positions out
of 11 rounds (a new record for the series) and led 64 laps
out of the 293 raced (only Priaulx had done better last year,
leading 65 laps out of 253). However, Menu lacked consistency
and remained scoreless in 50 per cent of the rounds, which
eventually cut him out on the title fight, whereas Priaulx
and Yvan Muller scored in all the rounds but five.
Eleven drivers claimed at least one win during the season,
with Farfus and Priaulx scoring three each, Yvan Muller, James
Thompson and Jörg Müller two apiece.
MANUFACTURERS FOUGHT A CLOSE FIGHT
The 2007 Manufacturers’ Championship was the closest
so far since the FIA revived the WTCC in 2005. Thanks to Andy
Priaulx’s victory in Macau’s second race BMW claimed
their third consecutive title with a 6-point slim margin ahead
of SEAT. All the four Manufacturers were represented in the
top-five of the Drivers’ Championship.
The BMW men won nine out of the 22 races and led 128 laps
out of 293. Behind Priaulx, Augusto Farfus classified fourth
in the points. SEAT fought for the title until the end. Their
drivers claimed 5 victories and Yvan Muller finished runner
up, the best result ever for the Spanish marque since they
joined FIA touring cars in 2003.
Chevrolet classified third in the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Their drivers won 7 races and for the first time one of them
– Nicola Larini – had the chance to secure the
world title. He finished fifth in the championship, on equal
points with Farfus. James Thompson successfully defended Alfa
Romeo’s honour and gave the Italian make an unexpected
third place in the Drivers’ Championship.
D’ASTE INDEPENDENT CHAMPION BY TWO POINTS
Proteam Motorsport’s Luca Rangoni won both races in
Macau, but this was not enough to beat his fellow countryman
Stefano D’Aste in the fight for the Independents’
Trophy. At the wheel of his Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si D’Aste
grabbed the title with a margin of only two points.
The third contender, Pierre-Yves Corthals saw his hopes vanishing
when his Exagon Racing SEAT León crashed into the wall
at the start of Macau’s first race. These three men
dominated the season and altogether won 15 out of the 22 races:
9 Rangoni, 5 Corthals and 3 D’Aste; the remaining five
victories were collected by SEAT Sport Italia drivers Roberto
Colciago (3) and Massimiliano Pedalà (2).
COUNTDOWN: - 99 DAYS
to the 2008 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil – 1st / 2nd March,
in Curitiba
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