FIA WTCC NEWSLETTER # 38 – 28 September 2007
ROUTE TO: MONZA, ITALY
The 19th and 20th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take
place next week at Monza, the Italian temple of speed, home
of the Italian Grand Prix since 1922.
The track, located inside the Royal Park some 15 km North
of Milan, is also a traditional venue for the FIA Touring
Cars as it hosted the opening rounds of both, the first ever
World Touring Car Championship in 1987 and the current one
in 2005. Since 2003 Alfa Romeo and BMW have equally shared
the glory at Monza, winning four races apiece (in 2003 and
2004 counting towards the European Touring Car Championship).
James Thompson and Jörg Müller have claimed two
victories each. The two races in Monza will mark the end of
WTCC’s European season before the long trip to Macau
for the grand finale.
MAXIMUM BALLAST FOR SIX
No less than six drivers – three of BMW, one
of SEAT, one of Alfa Romeo and one of Chevrolet – will
carry the maximum 60-kg ballast onboard their cars during
the next FIA WTCC event at Monza. They are Andy Priaulx, Augusto
Farfus, Yvan Muller, Jörg Müller and James Thompson
who occupy the first five positions in the championship classification,
plus Robert Huff who is ninth.
Gabriele Tarquini of SEAT and Alain Menu of Chevrolet are
5 and 10 kilos lighter respectively.
60 kg A. Farfus, A. Priaulx, Y. Muller, J. Müller, J.
Thompson and R. Huff
55 kg G. Tarquini
50 kg A. Menu
40 kg N. Larini
25 kg J. Gené
20 kg T. Monteiro and F. Porteiro
15 kg T. Coronel
10 kg T. Engström and O. Nogués
5 kg A. Zanardi and L. Rangoni
TARQUINI MOVES TO TDI LEÓN
For his home race meeting SEAT Sport’s Gabriele Tarquini
will switch from the petrol-powered León to the León
TDI; the third turbo diesel car lined up by the Spanish manufacturer
alongside Jordi Gené’s and Yvan Muller’s.
The SEAT León TDI debutted in the FIA WTCC only two
months ago at Anderstorp and four weeks later in Oschersleben
it managed to claim the first victory of a diesel car in a
World Championship.
EKBLOM AND ENGSTRÖM COME TO MONZA
Swedish drivers Fredrik Ekblom and Tomas Engström will
both race at Monza. Ekblom’s participation with BMW
Team UK was announced earlier in the season when he entered
in his home event at Anderstorp. After that he secured the
Swedish Touring Car Championship title, the third in his career.
Engström is also well known in the paddock, as he paid
occasional visits to the ETCC and WTCC in the past seasons.
He will be at the wheel of his Honda Accord car with which
he classified 10th in this year’s Swedish Touring Car
Championship.
OSCAR NOGUÉS RETURNS TO SEAT
SEAT Sport will line up a sixth León car in Monza;
the driver will be Oscar Nogués Farré, winner
of the 2006 SEAT León Supercópa.
This is the fourth time that SEAT have given a young driver
coming their one-make trophy the chance to race in the WTCC:
in 2005 Marc Carol raced in Valencia, while last Florian Gruber
and Nogués took part in the meetings at Oschersleben
and Monza respectively. The 30-year old Nogués won
this honour for the second time having claimed two consecutive
titles in the 2005 and 2006 Supercópa.
EUROSPORT COVERAGE FROM BRANDS HATCH
Saturday, 6th: Qualifying – LIVE Eurosport 2, 15.00/15.45
Sunday, 7th: Warm up – LIVE Eurosport International,
09.00/09.30
Race 1 – LIVE Eurosport International, 11.45/12.45
Race 2 – LIVE Eurosport International, 15.15/16.15
Times are CET (Central European Time)
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