35 Cars Expected In Closer Than Ever Touring Car Fest
The Chevrolet WTCC team is looking forward to start its second season in the World Touring Car Championship in Monza, Italy on Sunday. After a long winter of testing in different countries and a successful two days at the Monza track early last week, there is a certain “back-to-school” feeling within the team, with drivers, engineers and mechanics all anxious to meet friends and competitors old and new.
“We have been working flat out for four months to build, test and develop our 2006 race cars, so now we’re obviously keen to see the results in real competition” said Team Manager, Mark Busfield. “We were encouraged by our performance during the official FIA test days at Monza last week, even though the Italian track with its long straights isn’t one of our favourites. What we already know for sure is that the racing will even be closer than it was last year. In some sessions last week we had as many as fifteen cars within one second of each other, so it’s clear to see that everybody has upped their game.”
“Results wise, we are expect to build on our performance from 2005, we aim to finish in the points every time out, but as we all know that easier said than done. Lets not forget the standard of our competitors continues to be very high with the all the Worlds top Touring car drivers in the WTCC, .and there we will be 35 cars on the grid next Sunday.”“You have to hand it to the rule makers at the FIA on the one hand, and to the engineers on the other to come up with this close racing,” said Chevrolet Europe’s Motorsports Manager, Eric Nève.
“I can’t remember ever having seen this competitive racing like we saw in the test sessions last week. Our team did a great job in building on last year’s progress, while at the same time turning the car into a left-hand drive, user-friendly and technically improved vehicle. I’m convinced this season will go down as a classic season, with more manufacturers joining and new important markets being visited. Speaking for ourselves, I think we will have to go for points finishes at every track, and try to finish on the podium as often as possible. If we can show the same improvement throughout this season as we did last, than I can’t see why we shouldn’t be able to fight for race wins in the second half of this year.”
“With the reverse grid system for the second race of the weekend, I think that realistically, we could go for podiums from the Brands Hatch or Oschersleben race onwards,” said Rob Huff, author of one of the fastest times overall in one of last week’s sessions. “I am confident we can do well this season, especially after last week’s test which was very promising.”
MONZA WTCC SCHEDULE
Saturday April 1st09.00-09.30 Free Practice 112.00-12.30 Free Practice 215.00-15.30 Qualifying
Sunday April 2nd09.25-09.40 Warm Up15.05-15.30 WTCC Race 1 (9 laps = 52.137kms)16.15-16.40 WTCC Race 2 (9 laps = 52.137kms)Qualifying, warm-up and the races will be broadcasted live on Eurosport.
