The World Touring Car Championship heads to the hills this weekend, when the series visits the Puebla circuit in the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico. The WTCC Drivers’ Championship, the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy, and the Manufacturers’ Championship are all wide open as the season moves into its second half, promising tough and close racing.
The Puebla track is especially challenging. The venue’s relatively high altitude and thinner air makes it harder for the cars’ two-litre engines to breathe, and the demanding layout of the circuit– an unusual mix of a tight, slow infield and a long, fast straight - are demanding on brakes and tyres. All the cars in this world-class series run on specially-developed Yokohama ADVAN high-performance tyres.Puebla is demanding on drivers, too. SEAT driver Peter Terting explains: “The biggest problem last year was the tarmac; it was very slippery and if you were a few centimetres off line, you were in the wall. You had to be very careful.”
In the interests of safety, the circuit has been revised slightly since last year, when Team Germany’s Jörg M ller (BMW) crashed so heavily in qualifying that he was unable to start either of the two races. It is another BMW driver, Britain’s Andy Priaulx, who leads the series as it goes to Mexico, with a score of 41 points from the ten races so far this season – but his compatriot James Thompson (SEAT) is just three points behind, and Italy’s Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT) just one point further back.
Priaulx carries the greatest amount of ‘success ballast’ this weekend, at 80kg, whereas Thompson is carrying 60kg and Tarquini 45kg. It’s even closer in the Manufacturers’ title chase, leader SEAT holding 127 points but BMW right there on 126. In the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy, Dutchman Tom Coronel (SEAT – 78 points) will be hoping to build on his lead over Irishman Ryan Sharp (Honda – 53 points). WTCC qualifying in Mexico starts at 11.30pm Central European Summer Time on Saturday, with the two races scheduled for 10.05pm and 11.15pm on Sunday. All races are televised live on Eurosport
