FIVE CHEVROLETS TO START IN LAST EUROPEAN ROUND OF 2006 WTCC
Larini And De Villota Celebrate Honeymoons At The Races; WTCC Ultra Launched In Paris
WELLINGBOROUGH-ZÜRICH, 2 October 2006 – Fresh from a second consecutive podium finish in Istanbul, the Chevrolet WTCC team is now gearing up for the final European race of the 2006 World Touring Car Championship in Valencia, Spain, next weekend. With Rob Huff’s win in Brno and Nicola Larini’s podium finish in Istanbul, team, car and drivers are clearly on a roll and very much looking forward to keep the momentum going.
“I’m convinced I could have had a good shot at winning in Turkey,” Nicola Larini said, “had it not been for a bent steering arm after I got swiped by another competitor. I did of course have the benefit of running without any success ballast, but the last few races nevertheless show our car is competitive at different tracks and in different weather conditions. I don’t think I have ever seen it rain that hard as it did last weekend.”
The result could not have come at a better time, making the ideal wedding gift for Larini as he used the weekend off between the Istanbul and Valencia races to get married!
An added point of interest in the Chevrolet camp will be Spanish lady driver, Maria De Villota, who will be driving for the Swiss-based, German championship winning Maurer Motorsport. The daughter of former Formula 1 driver, Emilio, will be the first ever lady to drive in the World Touring Car Championship, and will race along newly-crowned German Touring Car Champion, Belgian Vincent Radermecker. Like Nicola Larini, De Villota will be celebrating her honeymoon at the race track, as she got married three weeks ago.
Maria De Villota had her first taste of the car in Oschersleben last week, where Maurer Motorsport added the ADAC Procar Team’s title to the Drivers’ title already won by Vincent Radermecker, while Rainer Bastuck moved up to third in the final standings. “The test went really well,” team boss, Beat Maurer said. “It was her first time in a front wheel drive touring car and her first time at Oschersleben but she still managed to come close to the times Vincent Radermecker set. So we expect her to be just fine in Valencia, as she knows the track quite well. For the Spanish race we will also have the seat, pedals and steering wheel properly adapted to her size, as she is a bit smaller than our regular drivers.”
“It’s really nice to work with her as you can tell immediately she has been around racing cars for most of her lives,” Maurer continued. “Going from a RWD, LHD, rear-engined sportscar to a FWD, RHD, front-engined touring car is about the biggest change you can have, but she coped excellently. The feedback she gave on the car is almost identical to Vincent’s, which was nice. And she has the added bonus that she is much better-looking than Vincent, as he said so himself!”
And finally, at the Paris Motor Show last week, Chevrolet Europe launched the WTCC Ultra concept car, a study of what Chevrolet’s next generation WTCC contender could potentially look like. The ready-to-drive concept car, which was developed by a GM team around the globe, has received an enthusiastic welcome by media and visitors alike. It is the vision of a new generation of touring car – a design icon that bends the present WTCC regulations. "In addition to the premiere of the Chevrolet WTCC Ultra, we are also celebrating our second victory in the World Touring Car Championship," said the boss of Chevrolet Europe, Wayne Brannon. "Our commitment to the WTCC is of enormous value for emotionalising the brand."
VALENCIA WTCC SCHEDULE
Saturday October 7th09.00-09.30 Free Practice 112.30-13.00 Free Practice 215.00-15.30 Qualifying
Sunday October 8th10.15-10.30 Warm Up15.15-15.40 WTCC Race 1 (13 laps = 52.065kms)16.20-16.45 WTCC Race 2 (13 laps = 52.065kms)
Warm-up and the races will be broadcasted live on Eurosport, as well as on www.fiawtcc.com.
HANDICAP WEIGHTS FOR VALENCIA
1. A Priaulx, +65kgs; 2. G Tarquini, +65kgs; 3. R Rydell, +55kgs; 4. D Müller, +55kgs; 5. J Müller, +50kgs; 6. P Terting, +40kgs; 7. A Farfus, +40kgs; 8. Y Muller, +30kgs; 9. J Thompson, +30kgs; 10. A Zanardi, +20kgs; 11. O Nogués, +20kgs; 12. M De Villota, +20kgs; 13. G Morbidelli, +20kgs; 14. J Gené, +15kgs; 15. R Huff, +10kgs; 16. A Menu, +10kgs, 17. N Larini, +5kgs; 18. S Tavano, +5kgs; 19. T Coronel, +5kgs.
POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 16 OF 20
Drivers:
1. A Priaulx, 58pts; 2. G Tarquini, 57; 3. R Rydell, 54; 4. D Müller, 51; 5. J Thompson, 49;… 13. A Menu, 20; 14. R Huff, 20: 15. N Larini, 13;…
Manufacturers : 1. SEAT, 201pts; 2. BMW, 192; 3. Alfa Romeo, 125; 4. Chevrolet, 103.
CHEVROLET RACING AROUND THE GLOBE
In the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Chevrolet drivers Jeff Burton and Denny Hamlin lead the point standings in the 10-race Chase for the Cup. Fellow Chevrolet-drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart won the first three races of “the chase”. There are still seven rounds to go. More information on Chevrolet NASCAR programme can be found on www.nascar.com.
In Argentina, Chevrolet Astra driver, Matias Rossi won the Mendoza round of the Argentine TC2000 championship, but only finished fifth in last weekend’s race at General Roca. He is now third in the standings behind Juan Manuel Silva and Gabriel Ponce de Leon, trailing by only 12 points. There are still three races to go in the series. More information can be found on http://www.tc2000.com.ar.
