FIA WTCC newsletter # 16 - 25 April 2008
SEAT DRIVERS TOP BALLAST LIST
As a consequence of their domination in the first two events
of the season, SEAT drivers will carry the heaviest success
ballasts in their home race meeting at Valencia.
Rickard Rydell, who climbed to the top of the Drivers' Championship
after obtaining two second places in Mexico, will have 56
extra kilos on board his León TDI car; 16 and 17 kilos
more than his team-mates Jordi Gené who won the first
race in Puebla and Gabriele Tarquini who is currently second
in the classification with a gap of 2 points. SEAT Sport's
two other drivers, Yvan Muller (third in the championship)
and Tiago Monteiro (Puebla's Race 2 winner) will be given
a 32 kg ballast, while Tom Coronel with 20 extra kilos completes
a SEAT sextet on top of the list.
Following their disappointing weekend in Mexico, where only
Andy Priaulx managed to score a point, the BMW drivers have
lost weight: Priaulx from 33 to 14, Jörg Müller
from 26 to 11 and Félix Porteiro from 14 to 9.
A total of sixteen drivers will have success ballasts in Valencia,
including the race-by-race entries Pérez-Aicart, Lvov
and Smetsky who will receive 30 entra kilos according to article
79 c) of the Sporting Regulations.
Success ballast - Spain
56 kg R. Rydell
40 kg J. Gené
39 kg G. Tarquini
32 kg Y. Muller, T. Monteiro
30 kg J. M. Pérez-Aicart, A. Lvov, A. Smetsky
20 kg T. Coronel
14 kg A. Priaulx
11 kg J. Müller
9 kg F. Porteiro
6 kg N. Larini
3 kg A. Farfus, A. Menu
1 kg O. Tielemans
SEAT CHAMPION TO RACE IN VALENCIA
The 2007 SEAT León Supercopa champion Josè Manuel
Pérez-Aicart will make his FIA World Touring Car Championship
debut in the next race meeting at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo
Tormo on May 18th.
The 26-year old Spaniard will drive a petrol-powered SEAT
León run by SUNRED Engineering and entered by SEAT
Sport. Pérez-Aicart is the fourth young driver who
has been given the chance to race in the WTCC as a reward
for the brilliant results achieved in SEAT's own trophy, after
Marc Carol (in 2005), Florian Gruber (in 2006) and Oscar Nogués
(twice in 2006 and 2007).
The young Spaniard had his first drive in the León
WTCC last week, during the official test days in Valencia.
"It was the best gift I've ever had. I had the chance
to complete 45 laps and discovered that the car is fantastic.
Everything has been perfect in the test and I hope to have
as much fun in the races as I can," he said.
GOLDEN MOTORS JOIN IN SPAIN
Golden Motors Honda Dealer Team from St.Petersburg, Russia
will take part in the WTCC Spanish event at Valencia with
two Honda Accord Euro R cars built by JAS Motorsport and run
by the Estonian team Artman Racing.
Alexander Lvov and Andrey Smetsky, who were classified first
and second in the 2007 Russian Touring Car Championship, will
be at the wheel of the two Japanese machines. They had already
participated in last year's WTCC round at Anderstorp.
Golden Motors have planned to take part in four other WTCC
events.
TESTING TIME FOR MELVIN CHOO
Singapore driver Melvin Choo completed his first test in the
Thunder Asia BMW 320si car that he will drive in this year's
Asian Touring Car Series and the two last rounds of the FIA
WTCC at Okayama and Macau.
During a three-day testing on Sepang's Grand Prix circuit's
north course, Choo clocked some encouraging times, including
a fastest lap of 1:08.898 that smashed the previous record
for Super 2000 cars set by WTCC regular Franz Engstler.
Choo will take part in a few other test sessions before the
start of the Asian series, at Sepang on May 18th. "We
hope that we will be competitive by the time we make our first
WTCC appearance, in October at Okayama," team manager
Raja Zaini said.
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