Chevrolet Team Optimistic To Break Oschersleben Duck
The Chevrolet WTCC team is heading towards the east next weekend, for the 15th and 16th rounds of the 2008 World Touring Car Championship in Oschersleben, Germany. All three Lacetti drivers will be more than motivated to succeed at the track which – due to its twisty nature and many race incidents – traditionally is one of the most difficult hurdles of the WTCC season. Rob Huff – who came so close to winning at Brands hatch – and Nicola Larini will both be making the most of running a relatively light car while most other front runners are closing in on the maximum success ballast limit.
Alain Menu will be playing the tactical game in order to keep his chances in the championship alive. With still ten races to go everything is still possible for all three Chevrolet drivers, but points must now be scored at every occasion to reduce the gap to the championship leaders. Two days of intensive testing at Magny Cours in France allowed the team to further fine-tune settings and set-up in order to put on the best possible show in Oschersleben, where Chevrolet Germany has invited 1,000 guests. The grandstands will be blue again; a colour that will hopefully rub off on the podium.
• QUOTESRob Huff: “The Chevrolets always seem to go well at Oschersleben, and with the very positive winter test we had there I have every reason to be optimistic. After to our misfortune at Brands Hatch, both Nic and I will be among the lightest cars out there so the first goal of the weekend will be to park my car on the front row of the grid. Then I’d like to convert that to a win and score some good points in the second race as well. Oschersleben is a tight, twisty and technical track and our cars always seem to like this kind of circuit. Personally I think it’s a great driver’s track. So a win is what I’ll be after next weekend.”
Alain Menu: “I’ll be nearing the 60-kilo mark on the success ballast scale, so for me the race will be tactical more than anything else. Running heavy at a technical track like Oschersleben isn’t easy, but I’ll be glad if I can come away with a few points in both races. That said, there’s always a lot going on in the tight corners, so with some others’ misfortunes we still could spring a surprise."
Nicola Larini: “I will go to Oschersleben with the same determination to do well, but to make any predictions is very difficult for me this year, so we will have to wait to be there to see how things look. Oschersleben has a couple of very slow and tricky corners where contact is almost unavoidable. A bit like Puebla where I did well, so I will be highly motivated to at least repeat my Mexican result, especially after having had a great summer vacation! It will also be a pleasure to be racing again in front of what is probably the biggest Chevrolet partisan crowd in the WTCC. You’ll rarely see more blue in the grandstands than in Oschersleben.”
OSCHERSLEBEN RACE SCHEDULESaturday, 30th August 200809.00-09.30 Free Practice 111.30-12.00 Free Practice 215.00-15.30 QualifyingSunday, 31st August 200809.00-09.15 Warm up12.00-12.25 Race 1 (14 laps = 51.744kms) (Rolling start)15.45-16.10 Race 2 (14 laps = 51.744kms) (Standing start)
DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 14 OF 241. Y Muller (SEAT), 65 points; 2. G Tarquini (SEAT), 64; 3. A Priaulx (BMW), 49; 4. R Rydell (SEAT), 48; 5. J Müller (BMW), 43;… 7. R Huff (Chevrolet), 36; 8. A Menu (Chevrolet), 34;… 11. N Larini (Chevrolet), 30;…
MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 14 OF 241. SEAT, 194 points; 2. BMW, 165; 3. Chevrolet, 134; 4. Honda, 25.
SUCCESS BALLAST FOR OSCHERSLEBEN1. Y Muller (SEAT), 70kgs; 2. J Müller (BMW) 70; 3. G Tarquini (SEAT), 69; 4. F Porteiro (BMW), 64; 5. A Menu (Chevrolet), 59; 6. A Zanardi (BMW), 54; 7. A Priaulx (BMW), 54; 8. R Rydell (SEAT), 48; 9. R Huff (Chevrolet), 36; 10. J Gené (SEAT), 34; 11. N Larini (Chevrolet), 30;
…OSCHERSLEBEN WTCC ON TVIn Europe, the warm-up and race 2 are broadcasted live on Eurosport International. Race 1 is broadcasted live on Eurosport 2.
