Rob Huff Gains Fastest Lap; Larini First FWD Car In Points Standings
VALENCIA (RACES 5 & 6)
Chevrolet driver, Nicola Larini moves up to a strong fourth place in the points standings after he scored another podium finish in today’s Spanish round of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship. A blinding start in the first race saw the Italian move up from sixth on the grid to second in Turn 1 and stayed in that position until the finish. In the second race he again finished in the points.Alain Menu was the author of a blitz-start in race 1, but like team mate Rob Huff became entangled in the first corner scuffle. Down in 18th at the end of the first lap, he moved back up to ninth, while in the second race he strategically dropped back from sixth to 11th in order to lose handicap weight for the next round at the French street course of Pau.
Rob Huff again wasn’t lucky in Valencia as for the third year in succession he was an innocent victim of the traditional first corner mêlée. In the second race he did, however, demonstrate his and Chevrolet’s sheer speed by moving up from 26th on the grid to eighth by mid-race before being swiped in one corner and dropping a few places. Huff also set fastest race lap.
• QUOTESNicola Larini (2nd/5th): “It is yet again a second place finish, but if I can keep on finishing on the podium I don’t necessarily need to win. In this championship it matters more to be consistent and at the same time not to take too much handicap weight. I took the rolling start of the first race in second gear, which is why I managed to make up five places by the first corner. From then on I could just control my position as the Alfa was too fast to chase down and Yvan (Muller) wasn’t catching me. In the second race I was so slow off the grid but still managed to bring home valuable points. This weekend was again a very good weekend for me and the team.”
Alain Menu (9th/14th): “As usual there was the traditional pushing and shoving in Turn 1 at the start of the first race. I had an excellent start, but someone tapped me from behind and that put paid to the effort. Nevertheless, I had the car to charge and did just that, picking them off one by one. The second race was a bit bizarre in that the red starting lights were already on while we were still taking our place on the grid. The race went well and I quickly moved into the points. But the three points I would have scored for finishing sixth weren’t worth the extra ballast I would have to carry in Pau at the next round, so the team and I decided to drop back as to lose 15 kilos for the French race. Since I know the Pau track very well from my single seater days, I find it better to be as light as possible there and try to score a podium finish.”
Rob Huff (DNF/13th): “Let’s just forget about the first race. Lightning does seem to strike three times in the same place! The second race I enjoyed very much. I was worried at the start because the red starting lights were already on, so I thought I had missed my engineer’s call for the five-second board. I kept the clutch dipped on and off for some 15-20 seconds, fearing I would burn it before the race start. In the end I had the best start ever and I just catapulted through the field. When I had moved into the points I got swiped by another competitor forcing me to run wide on the dirty part of the track. But fastest race lap shows how good the car really is.”Ray Mallock: “This was some solid driving by Nic, who brings yet another podium finish to the team. Rob suffered his Valencia jinx, while Alain and the team played the strategic game in view of the next race. Pau could be another good race for us.”
Eric Nève: “Nicola did another solid job with two races in the points and the first one on the podium. We mustn’t forget that he finished within just three seconds of the winner despite the Chevrolet being a massive 50 kilos heavier. Too bad for Rob that he’s always a victim of Valencia’s Turn 1, because with the pace he had in the second race he would definitely have scored big points in the first race. As for Alain, he shows that races and championships are not necessarily always won on the track but by strategy from the pit wall as well, so congratulations to the team for the quick strategic thinking.”
VALENCIA RACE 1 RESULTS
1. J Thompson Alfa Romeo 156 15 laps in 29m37s113 (Ave: 121.69kph)2. N Larini Chevrolet Lacetti + 2s8393. Y Muller SEAT Leon + 4s2374. J Gené SEAT Leon + 4s8105. A Priaulx BMW 320si + 5s4929. A Menu Chevrolet Lacetti + 16s21618. M De Villota Chevrolet Lacetti + 42s180DNF R Huff Chevrolet Lacetti 0 laps (Accident)
VALENCIA RACE 2 RESULTS
1. J Thompson Alfa Romeo 156 13 laps in 23m12s920 (Ave: 134.56kph)2. J Müller BMW 320si + 1s8113. A Priaulx BMW 320si + 2s2664. Y Muller SEAT Leon + 3s2245. N Larini Chevrolet Lacetti + 4s71613. R Huff Chevrolet Lacetti + 17s63914. A Menu Chevrolet Lacetti + 20s05820. M De Villota Chevrolet Lacetti + 59s793
DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 6 OF 22
1. J Müller (BMW), 31pts; 2. A Priaulx (BMW), 31; 3. A Farfus (BMW) 28; 4. N Larini (Chevrolet) 25; 5. G Tarquini (SEAT) 21;… 9. A Menu (Chevrolet) 10;… 14. R Huff (Chevrolet) 4;…
MANUFACTURERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 6 OF 22
1. BMW, 81pts; 2. SEAT, 62; 3. Chevrolet, 50; 4. Alfa Romeo, 34.
CHEVROLET RACING INSIGHT ON THE WEBThroughout the 2007 WTCC season, Chevrolet Insight will show you the behind-the-scenes of the Chevrolet WTCC team. On Saturday and Sunday, media and fans alike will get the latest information and can ask their questions via the web in Chevrolet’s own web cast. The web address is chevrolet-insight.com. First airings will be at 8.00pm local time (2.00pm Detroit time, 3.00am Seoul time), after which the 15-minute programme can be viewed as Video On Demand by clicking the appropriate button.
