Team Ford Hotfiel Sport pushes for better results onhome ground
Cologne, August 19, 2005 – Team Ford Hotfiel Sport areon home ground when the next round of the FIA WorldTouring Car Championship moves to Oschersleben, a3.667 kilometre/2.269 miles long circuit in the heartof Germany.
Oschersleben is no stranger to the WTCC and has hosteda round of the championship and its predecessor, theFIA European Touring Car Championship, since theseries began. The Hotfiel team is based around 300 kmwest of the circuit in Kirchlengern, and has competedthere several times since 1997, each time with FordFocus.
Rebuilt and ReadyDespite the two accidents at the last round inSpa-Francorchamps, Team Ford Hotfiel Sport will fieldthe same new Ford Focus cars in Oschersleben thatcompeted in Belgium.
“We have rebuilt both cars,” said team principal HansHotfiel. “Michael Funke´s car had only minor scars onthe bodywork, while Thomas Klenke´s vehicle needed newfront wings after the head-on impact with Jordi Gené´sSeat. Luckily, neither the roll cage nor the chassisitself suffered from the impact, and this saved usfrom having to build an all-new car.”
Klenke is ready for Oschersleben. “To be fast aroundOschersleben, you need a lot of downforce," he said."But at the same time, you must be very careful not tomake the car too light. You need stability at the rearfor the fast ´Triple´ corner and the chicane after thebackstraight. Also, the car has to be good and stableover the kerbs. Our experience should help us toachieve a good set-up pretty quickly.”
Oschersleben is SpecialAs the team missed the Mexican round of theChampionship, it had the opportunity to undertakeadditional testing in Oschersleben on a few occasionsand to great benefit.
“Oschersleben is a very special track. You have toshift a lot of load to the front; the set-up must copewith a slight oversteer,” explained Funke. “We managedsome encouraging times in our latest test there, bothon new and on used tyres. We're hoping we canreproduce these times on race weekend.”Klenke added: “Top speeds in Oschersleben don´t exceed210 kph. The drag doesn´t count as much as it does onhigh-speed tracks. In contrast, you need good tractionout of the many slow corners. We should look a lotbetter there than we did at Spa. Ideally, we'd like tobe fighting for the mid-field positions.”
“Since Oschersleben is our home circuit and we knowthe track like the back of our hands, this should beour best race of the season," commented Hotfiel. "Anything short of a major step forward would be adisappointment.”
