after intense battle in Brazil

Huff 8th and Menu 10th in the most competitive week-end of the season

Chevrolet put two cars in the top ten and scored one more point in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) thanks to the brilliant 8th place conquered by Rob Huff in the second race of the HSBC Race of Brazil.

The fifth round of the season, which took place in the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba, has probably been the most competitive event so far, with teams and drivers being separated by minimal gaps in practice and qualifying and races being closer and more fought than ever.

It was a Sunday morning quieter than usual in Curitiba. The defeat of the Seleção against France in the quarter-final of the football World Cup had left the nation speechless and in a state of mourning. Also the weather conditions seemed to have aligned with the general mood: low and grey skies and a lot of mist, that obliged to delay the start of the warm-up. By noon, however, the sunshine was shining over the capital of the State of Paraná, cheering up the mood of the thousands of race fans queuing at the circuit’s gates. To show his sympathy to the Brazilian public and share its sadness, the Chevrolet WTCC Racing had prepared a huge sticker carrying the message “É pena, Brasil” (“We are sorry, Brazil”) which was displayed on the bonnet of the car of Nicola Larini and attracted a lot of snapshots from the fans during the pit walk before the races.

In Race 1,

Rob Huff and Alain Menu finished 18th and 19th position, although their gap with respect to the winning Seat of Jordi Gené was contained to 16 and 17.4 seconds respectively. The Swiss had been touched by D’Aste in one of the fast corners in the first lap and had to stop in the pits to change the left front tyre. Fortunately, the pace car went out at that very moment, allowing Alain to rejoin the group with a marginal lost of time. Nicola Larini took a good start and was running 14th in the initial laps before losing power and ground, eventually retiring in lap 10 with a broken drivetrain.

Race 2 saw a superb performance of Rob Huff, who brought the Lacetti from 18th on the grid to 8th under the chequered flag. The Brit explained his race: “I had an awful start, but that turned to be helpful, as I was not tangled in the confusion at the first corner. Then I managed to pass Alain in the first lap and 2-3 other cars in the initial part of the race. Later on, I was lucky when something happened in the middle group ahead of me and five cars went off. I saw a Seat spinning and turned as tight as I could into the corner and could avoid the mess. At that moment, I was eight and could catch Jörg Müller, but apparently under yellow flags, so I let him pass again but could pass overtake him a second time at the restart after the pace-car left. But as the race ended under red flag, the final result is the one of the previous lap, so I finished 8th and not 7th. It has been an exciting race, with a lot of fighting, the car was going better and I could get on battling. I am very happy of how things went”.

Alain Menu did also a beautiful race and charged up until 10th position, although his race ended brutally in the last lap, as the Lacetti hit the tyre wall in the corner leading to the straight. “It happened because of the under-steering we have been suffering the whole week-end. The car just went wide into the grass and there was nothing I could do. It was a pretty big bang, but I am ok”.

Eric Nève, Chevrolet Europe Motorsport Manager, commented : « It was not a lucky week-end for Brazil and it was also a challenging week-end for us. But I am happy that many people turned up today and that this first WTCC event in South America has been a success. It was somehow frustrating to see that our cars were ok in terms of gaps but far in terms of positions. Eventually, with the great race of Rob and Alain, we could score one point and put two cars in the top ten. We now have some work to do on the cars of Alain and Nicola, but everything will be ok for Mexico”.The next two races of the WTCC are taking place in Puebla, Mexico on 29-30 July and all cars and equipment is being shipped by boat directly from Brazil tomorrow.

CURITIBA RACE 1 RESULTS

1. J. Gené (SEAT León) 16 laps in 25m02s194 (136.23 kmh)2. P Terting (SEAT León) + 1s6753. A Frafus (Alfa Romeo 156) + 2s9864. G Tarquini (SEAT León) + 3s7065. J Thompson (SEAT León) + 4s33818. R Huff (Chevrolet Lacetti) + 16s04720. A Menu (Chevrolet Lacetti) + 17s435

CURITIBA RACE 2 RESULTS

1. A Priaulx (BMW 320si) 14 laps in 25m42s910 (120.42 kmh)2. G Morbidelli (Alfa Romeo 156) + 0s7943. A Zanardi (BMW 320si) + 1s0224. J Thompson (SEAT León) + 2s2765. G Tarquini (SEAT León) + 3s0417. R Huff (Chevrolet Lacetti) + 4s76210. A Menu (Chevrolet Lacetti) + 6s308