CHEVROLET ON EQUAL FOOTING AT NEW PUEBLA RACE TRACK - Drivers Looking For First Point At The Autodromo Miguel E Abed
The 2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship will travel across the Atlantic for the first time this year for rounds 9 and 10 of the series. The races at the Autodromo Miguel E Abed in Puebla, Mexico, will mark the halfway point of the championship and are run on new territory for all the competitors, which might be beneficial for the Chevrolet Racing team. “So far this year, all our competitors had the advantage of having been at the tracks before,” Team Manager, Mark Busfield explained, “whereas we were always the new kids on the block. In Puebla everybody will have to start from a clean sheet, so maybe there we can make a difference as we have had to do so at all the previous tracks.” The WTCC will be the first races held in over a decade at the Puebla race track, which combines an oval with a newly built infield road course.
Since Imola the team has been testing in Snetterton with their test car, while the rest of the race equipment was sent to Mexico via sea freight. “Alain drove the car for two days, optimizing the chassis,” Busfield continued. “Working with the dampers, springs and bars we’ve managed to make some very good progress and we have now firmly established the direction in which to go in the future.” Rob Huff’s car, which was damaged in Imola, has been repaired and will leave for Mexico by plane from Stuttgart, Germany at the end of the week.
Apart from the new track, the teams and engineers will also have to cope with the high altitude of the 3,032-metre long race track. At an altitude of 2,304 metres above sea level, the Autodromo Miguel E Abed is the highest on this year’s calendar and has some new parameters for the engineers to cope with. “There’s the obvious loss of performance because the air is thinner,” Busfield said. “But there are also many other things and anomalies that we have to be aware of and that could affect our performance while racing at this high altitude. Tyre wear will probably also play a major role when you look at the long corners on the oval section, but as I said many things will be learned as we go. The organisers have given us an extra practice session on Friday afternoon, which effectively increases our track time by 50% before going into qualifying, which will of course be very helpful.”
For Italian Chevrolet driver, Nicola Larini, Puebla could spring another best year-to-date performance. “I’m quietly confident that we can build on the momentum from Imola,” he said, having finished 11th in Italy. “In qualifying we should make it into the top 15, but in the races a top ten finish should be possible. Many of the cars are running with ballast now, so that could make a difference for us, so hopefully I can bring home the first driver’s point of the year for Chevrolet.”
2005 WTCC DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS (After 8 races)
1. D Müller (BMW), 47 points; 2. A Priaulx (BMW), 42; 3. G Tarquini (Alfa Romeo), 30; 4. F Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo), 29; 5. A Farfus (Alfa Romeo), 29;…
2005 WTCC MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS (After 8 races)
1. BMW, 113 points; 2. Alfa Romeo, 100; 3. Seat, 75; 4. Chevrolet, 22, 5. Ford, 2.
PUEBLA WTCC SCHEDULE (CET between brackets)
Friday 24th June16.00-16.30 (23.00-23.30) Free Practice 1
Saturday 25th June09.00.09.30 (15.00-15.30) Free Practice 211.30-12.00 (18.30-19.00) Free Practice 314.45-15.15 (21.45-22.15) Qualifying
Sunday 26th June09.30-09.45 (16.30-16.45) Warm Up13.10-13.35 (20.10-20.35) 2005 WTCC Race 1 (17 laps = 51.544kms)14.15-14.40 (21.15-21.40) 2005 WTCC Race 2 (17 laps = 51.544kms)
