FIA WTCC newsletter 25
THOMPSON FASTEST IN MONZA TEST
For the first time since they joined the championship, James
Thompson and his N.technology Honda Accord Euro R set the
WTCC pace.
"We had a very good day," said Thompson. "We
didn't carry out as many laps as other teams because we were
making big changes on the car between the runs but it was
worth it. We take this result as a good representation of
the progress we're making. Step-by-step we will be back at
the level we are used to competing at."
During yesterday's official test session in Monza, the last
of the four scheduled for the season, Thompson clocked a fastest
lap of 2:00.918, posted during the morning session of a hot
Italian Summer day, with temperatures in the high 30s C.
Front wheel-drive cars emerged as the fastest along the Autodromo.
Tom Coronel and his SUNRED petrol-powered SEAT León
set the best lap in the afternoon; however, the Dutchman's
2:00.940 remained 0.022 seconds off Thompson's best.
Chevrolet's Alain Menu completed a lap of 2:00.946, only a
further four thousandths of a second adrift. Andy Priaulx
was the best of the BMW men, setting the fourth fastest lap
of 2:01.214, just ahead of Jordi Gené (2:01.298) in
the best of the SEAT León TDI cars.
Sixteen drivers took part in the test, with 13 of them covered
by the same second.
In the afternoon, Turkish driver Aytaç Biter, a former
runner up in the national Formula 3 championship, replaced
his fellow countryman Ibrahim Okyay at the wheel of the Borusan
Otomotiv Motorsport BMW car. Biter is due to drive the team's
second car in the WTCC events at Brands Hatch and Oschersleben.
TARQUINI GETS MAXIMUM BALLAST
SEAT Sport's Gabriele Tarquini, who won the second race in
Brno and is currently leading the Drivers' Championship, will
carry the maximum ballast on board his SEAT León TDI
car during the next race meeting in Estoril.
The Italian driver collected 58 extra kilos for the points
scored in the championship classification plus 25 for being
the second best scorer in the Czech weekend. Therefore he
is the first driver so far to receive the maximum 70-kg success
ballast provided by the sporting regulations.
His competitors will be far lighter, with Alessandro Zanardi
the best scoring driver in Brno, on 48 kg, only one more than
his BMW Italy-Spain team-mate Félix Porteiro.
BMW Team UK's Andy Priaulx, the first non-SEAT driver in the
championship, will receive 34 kg of ballast, while the heaviest
Chevrolet car will be Alain Menu's with 33.
A total of twenty drivers will have success ballast in Estoril,
including the race-by-race entries Alexander Lvov, Andrey
Smetsky, Kristian Poulsen and Tom Boardman who will receive
30 kilos each according to article 79 c) of the Sporting Regulations.
Success ballast - Portugal
70 kg G. Tarquini
48 kg A. Zanardi
47 kg F. Porteiro
43 kg Y. Muller
42 kg A. Farfus
37 kg R. Rydell
34 kg A. Priaulx
33 kg A. Menu
31 kg J. Müller
30 kg J. Gené, A. Lvov, A. Smetsky, T. Boardman, K.
Poulsen
27 kg R. Huff
19 kg N. Larini
12 kg T. Monteiro
10 kg T. Coronel
3 kg J. Thompson
1 kg O. Tielemans
PORTUGUESE EVENT LAUNCHED IN LISBON
The WTCC Race of Portugal was launched Wednesday in Lisbon.
The race meeting that will take place at Estoril on July 12th
and 13th was presented to the local media during a crowded
press conference at the Sheraton Lisbon Hotel & Spa.
SEAT Sport's Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro attended, while
Frederico Costa, vice president of Turismo de Portugal and
Francisco Santos, general manager of Talento, the event's
promoter company, delivered speeches to the audience.
"The WTCC is a strategic event for us because of three
reasons: it has a substantial economic impact on the region,
gives Portugal important returns on the media worldwide and
enhances the image of our country. This is why we have decided
to sign a three year deal with Talento and KSO for receiving
the championship, with Estoril hosting this year's edition
between the two in Porto, last year and in 2009." explained
Frederico Costa.
POULSEN TO MAKE WTCC DEBUT
Danish racing driver Kristian Poulsen will make his WTCC debut
in the next meeting at Estoril. Poulsen, 32-year old from
Flensborg, will be at the wheel of a BMW 320si car run by
his own team Poulsen Motorsport; it is the same machine he
normally drives in the Danish Touring Car Championship.
Poulsen, a former rally driver, switched to racing only at
the beginning of the 2007 season; however, he quickly established
himself and his own team in the national Touring Car championship.
During the last season he entered two BMW cars, for himself
and former DTM ace Kurt Thiim, who claimed two victories.
At the end of the year, Poulsen took part in the FIA European
Touring Car Cup at Adria, achieving a brilliant third place
in the Super 2000 class.
For the current season, the team has signed the reigning Danish
champion and winner of the FIA European Cup Michel Nykjær,
former Danish champion Jesper Sylvest and former WTCC regular
Emmet O'Brien alongside Poulsen.
Poulsen's participation in the Portuguese event is only the
first one that has been planned to pave the team's approach
to a full commitment in next year's WTCC.
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