CHEVROLET LOOKING FORWARD TO FINISH ON A HIGH
Longest Race Of The Year On Longest Street Course In The World
After an eight-week break, the World Touring Car Championship reconvenes at the capital of touring car racing in Macau, China. The 52nd running of the famous Macau Grand Prix will see the WTCC contenders fight it out in rounds 19 and 20, with everything still at stake. Five local entries will join 27 regular WTCC entrants, forming an impressive 32-car field.
One thing no team will probably have enough of is spare parts, as the Portuguese-named “Circuito da Guia” is not only the longest street course in the world, but also one of the fastest and definitely the narrowest. As on all street tracks, mistakes are costly, as there are little or no run off areas between the track and the concrete walls. On top of that, the very high top speeds on the long straights alongside the harbour mean that there is very little room for error, while the Melco hairpin is a corner you don’t find elsewhere. A track width of just seven meters means that running wide in this corner often translates in using the reverse gear and making a three-point manoeuvre to get back going again.
In short: Macau is a particular track that requires particular preparation. For that reason, the RML went to Millbrook, with plans and a tape measure. “We got hold of the exact measurements of the Melco hairpin,” Rob Huff explained, “and laid out a hairpin just like it. The idea was to see what we could do if we run wide, or – if something else happens – how quickly we can get ourselves out of different worse case scenarios. It’s a strange corner, being 14 metres wide on the way in and just seven metres wide on the way out. But all in all I’m very much looking forward to going to Macau. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the track on any computer game, so I watched the videos from previous races a lot. It will be a huge learning process, but then again I have nothing to prove there, so I won’t take any unnecessary risks. I think this year I have done what I needed to do to prove that I earned my place in the team, so there is no point in going to Macau and trying to equal my qualifying position from Valencia. I’m not going to put any pressure on myself and just learn as much as I can for 2006.”
Of the three Chevrolet drivers, only Nicola Larini has ever been to Macau, finishing a close second on his first time out there in 2002. “It’s a wonderful track, a bit like a long version of Monaco,” Larini said. “If you look at the map of the track you think it’s boring with just three long straights and then a slow twisty section, but actually it’s very fast everywhere. It’s very enjoyable to drive, especially in the fast uphill and downhill sequences. Being a street course with limited overtaking possibilities, it is of course very important to start from the first three rows on the grid. Any further back and you have no chance to score points or make it to the podium.”
Chevrolet Europe’s Motorsport Manager, Eric Nève, is equally anxious to see his team race again after a two-month break. “From the Valencia qualifying session we know that we now have the performance to run closer to the front than we have ever been, but unfortunately race incidents prevented us from translating this into race results,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how we go on a track like Macau, where a good starting position is probably even more important than at any track we’ve been at so far. On the other hand, the long straights are uncharacteristic for a street circuit and might not suit us as much as we would like, but on the twistier part of the track the excellent chassis dynamics of the Chevrolet Lacetti should be a real benefit. It would be a great motivator for the long winter testing programme if we could come away from China with our best race results of the year, but in Macau we will not only be racing the competition but also the track itself.”
Knowing Macau’s reputation as a “crash fest” the organizers have decided that in case of a deployment of the safety car the first two laps behind the safety car will not count as race laps.
2005 WTCC DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS (After 18 races)
1. D Müller (BMW), 86 points; 2. A Priaulx (BMW), 85; 3. F Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo), 81; 4. J Müller (BMW) 59; 5. G Tarquini (Alfa Romeo) 55;… 16. A Menu (Chevrolet) 5;… 18. N Larini (Chevrolet), 4; 19. R Huff (Chevrolet) 3.
2005 WTCC MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS (After 18 races)
1. BMW 244 points; 2. Alfa Romeo, 219; 3. SEAT, 170; 4. Chevrolet, 57; 5. Ford, 10.
MACAU WTCC SCHEDULE (All times local = CET + 7 hours)
Thursday 17th November15.10-15.40 Free Practice 1
Friday 18th November09.00-09.30 Free Practice 212.30-13.00 Free Practice 315.00-15.30 Qualifying
Saturday 19th NovemberNo WTCC action
Sunday 20th November07.45-08.00 Warm Up11.40-12.05 WTCC Race 1 (9 laps = 55.800kms)12.45-13.05 WTCC Race 2 (9 laps = 55.800kms)
The races will be broadcasted live on Eurosport. A special 9 hour long broadcast will bring live coverage from the warm up, followed by re-runs of the last three races (Oschersleben, Istanbul and Valencia) and live coverage of both Macau races. The programme starts at 0.45am on Sunday, November 20th and continue till 7.00am. On Saturday, November 19th, highlights of the practice and qualifying sessions will be shown.
Chevrolet’s live web conference, open to all media and fans alike, will go on air on Thursday, November 17th; Friday, November 18th and Sunday, November 20th, each day at 19.30 local time (12.30 CET).
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