 12/09/2008 |
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Russian fans and media had their foretaste of FIA WTCC last Monday, when cars and drivers hit Moscow’s Red Square for a photo session. Representatives of the championship visited the Russian capital city to present plans for a Russian race meeting in 2010.
KSO General Manager Marcello Lotti, drivers Rickard Rydell, Alain Menu, James Thompson, Jaap van Lagen, Viktor Shapovolav, Kirill Ladygin and Andrey Romanov, SEAT Sport Director Jaime Puig and N.technology Principal Mauro Sipsz met the President of RAF (Russian National Sporting Authority), top managers of LADA Avtovaz and a large group of media.
“To include Russia in the 2010 calendar is our priority and we are all working for that. The most likely scenario is racing on a street circuit, and we have been presented two or three alternatives, including Moscow. A decision will be taken soon and the plan is to organise in 2009 an international meeting on the track that will be selected,” explained Marcello Lotti.
Viktor Kiryanov, president of RAF said: “We fully support the idea of organising top level motorsport events in Russia. The WTCC, where drivers race cars that are close to those we use each day, will be interesting for motorsport fans and car enthusiasts; furthermore this event will attract attention of manufacturers, investors and media, and enhance the campaigns to raise road safety.” |
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| 09/09/2008 |
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Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is ready to re-open after two years. Track activity will start again with the FIA World Touring Car Championship race meeting, on September 20th and 21st.
Yesterday a large representative of media attended the event’s official launch, meeting BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi and SEAT Sport’s Gabriele Tarquini.
Journalists and TV cameramen was given the opportunity of having a ride on board of Zanardi's and Tarquini's racing cars to discover the changes to the track.
At the end of the day even Tarquini wanted to experience the thrill of being a passenger and sat in the BMW car alongside Zanardi, who commented: “We could hardly be in closer contact!”
Earlier this week, following the inspection from FIA officials, the Italian circuit was given a T1 degree homologation. |
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| 05/09/2008 |
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Augusto FARFUS
“It is a very important victory for BMW here as it is their home race. We knew that the pace was good as the practices showed. In qualifying we had a few problems which stopped me being able to brake properly so we did the best we could. I had a great start, managed to avoid the clashes and I was lucky. The SEAT of Tarquini blocked the Chevrolet drivers for a few laps and so I was able to build up a gap. When Rob (Huff) had passed him, there was a bit of a gap between us so I was able to keep pushing, but it was very hard to keep my focus as I was out there alone.”
Félix PORTEIRO
“It was a not an easy race for me today as Tom Coronel was pushing all the way through. It has been a perfect day for me. The car was perfect and everything went really well. The others caught me when I had a problem at the second corner, there was a lot of oil and debris on the track and I had to go to the outside and I lost a couple of seconds… but I still won so that is what matters. Maybe if I had not made the mistake then I would not have had Coronel following me so closely.”
Robert HUFF
“I needed to make up for the loss at Brands Hatch, it just makes you wonder if we had won Brands Hatch and had the fantastic weekend here too then we'd be third in the Championship. That's motor sport! I took advantage at the start in this race, where I lost out in the first race I gained in the second. I came through the first corner in fourth, and then saw D'Aste come from nowhere and managed to get past Gené.” |
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| 03/09/2008 |
| Oeschersleben race 2: first win for Porteiro
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BMW Italy-Spain driver Félix Porteiro managed to lead the race from pole to an impressive win in the second race at Oschersleben (the first for him so far in this season), holding off a charge from behind.
He escaped all the drama at the first corner after having a brilliant start, and led from Tom Coronel in the SUNRED SEAT away from the chaos.
It seemed to be that everyone piled into one another into the first corner, leaving Tiago Monteiro and James Tomspon out of the race almost immediately. Augusto Farfus had an excellent start from eighth on the grid, but he was pushed wide at the first corner and had to chase after the leaders. Other drivers involved in first lap incidents were Alessandro Zanardi, Ibrahim Okyay, Rickard Rydell and Olivier Tielemans. One to benefit was independent Sergio Hernández who ended up in fourth position by the end of the first lap. Stefano D'Aste also took advantage of the chaos and cut through the corner to rejoin the race inside the top ten. Hernández did not stay in fourth place, but even after being overtaken by the faster cars he ended the race in seventh position.
Coronel finished the race in second place, having bravely resisted pressure from Robert Huff, and even chased Porteiro for the win. He drove a fantastic race, on a circuit where he has historically always found success. Huff came up from seventh position on the reversed grid to take the final podium spot, but he had to overtake an extremely stubborn Jordi Gené, and defend his position from an advancing Farfus. Gené drove an excellent and brave race as he fought off car after car defending his position. Huff may have overtaken him, but Farfus, and later Andy Priaulx were not able to get by. He kept Farfus at bay for lap after lap; only for the Brazilian to be caught by surprise by Priaulx who overtook him. Following this move the British driver hounded Gené, but the Spaniard kept his ground to score a great fourth position.
Priaulx took fifth, with Farfus behind him in sixth. Hernández took seventh, and the win of the Independents' race. Yvan Muller finished in eighth position scoring one precious point for the title fight. He had been fourth for a few laps, but he could not find the pace and slipped back down the field. |
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| 01/09/2008 |
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The stage was set for a dramatic race with Robert Huff in the Chevrolet on pole, and Gabriele Tarquini, a title contender next to him in the SEAT Sport Tdi.
From the rolling start Tarquini took the lead over the line, but then things began to unfold. Augusto Farfus took his BMW Team Germany car up the outside of the pack and stayed out of trouble. He took the lead out of the first corner and stayed there for the rest of the race, only strengthening his lead away from the field.
Tarquini and Huff followed him round the corner, but Nicola Larini, who was squeezed by Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell, spun and hit his team mate as he went out at turn 2. That ended Larini's race, but Huff recovered and chased after Tarquini. Further back Alessandro Zanardi was pushed into a spin and Andy Priaulx took to the grass.
After everything had calmed down, Farfus was left out in front with the others fighting for second place. Tarquini was beginning to struggle and first Huff pulled off a move up the inside, followed quickly by Alain Menu to take the last podium position.
Even though Tarquini fought to save the position he was unable to and began to fall back down the field. Tiago Monteiro took fourth position, followed by team mates Gené and Rydell into fifth and sixth places respectively. Tarquini then clashed with Andy Priaulx as the British driver attempted to overtake him for seventh.
The collision ended with Priaulx going backwards into the tyre wall and out of the race. Tarquini ended up falling back to twenty-third position overall.
Other drivers who experienced troubles were Jörg Müller and Yvan Muller who both had technical problems, which caused them to fall back down the field.
Tom Coronel finished in seventh position following his relegation to ninth after qualifying. This means that he will start on the front row in the second race alongside Félix Porteiro who won the pole on the reverse grid. |
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