Chevrolet’s Pan-European Arts Competition Jury To Select New WTCC Livery
Fresh form a third consecutive podium-finishing weekend in Pau, the Chevrolet WTCC team is now moving east for the ninth and tenth rounds of this year’s championship on the Czech track of Brno. The hillside track is a favourite with the Chevrolet drivers, as it is a real drivers’ track, which requires a well balanced car and smooth driving to make the best of its undulating nature. Two years ago, Rob Huff scored his first and Chevrolet’s second WTCC win since the blue Lacettis joined the championship, and with both car and driver now matured to the point of being regular race winners, Huff is looking forward to racing in Brno again. Alain Menu from his side is looking forward to put an awful weekend at Pau behind him, while Nicola Larini is getting ever closer to that first WTCC win. After ten podium finishes, the Italian driver probably deserves it more than anybody else.
• QUOTES
Rob Huff: “After two very successful weekends I’m happy to be off to the place of my very first WTCC win. Starting from 24 th in the first race and going on to win the second in 2006 makes this place very special to me. The good thing this year is that we have a full day’s testing on the Thursday before the race, so that will be ideal to get the car dialed in to the extra weight we’re still carrying. But with the car we’ve got now I’m sure it will be a very good weekend again, and if I can walk away with another ten points or so, I’ll be very happy. We’ll just have to keep that momentum going all the way to Macau to be where we want to be.”
Alain Menu: “With the weekend I have had in Pau I have lost all of my success ballast, exceptfor the 14 kilos for the championship points. That should be a good thing in order to score some serious points, although some others are in a similar position. The lightest of the diesels especially should be good in the uphill sections, but if all goes well for us this weekend we should be able to fight for a podium finish.”
Nicola Larini: “After the good result in Pau, I hope that I can continue the trend in Brno. It is going to be difficult, though, because I will be quite heavy in success ballast and because such a hilly circuit should be more favorable to our competitors. In any case, one never knows, as there may be other variables like the weather that could play a great role. Last year, I scored good points in both races and I hope I can do at least as well this time.”.Eric Nève: “It’s always good to go back to a track where we’ve won before, especially at Brno where we have some of the best crowds in the WTCC. Touring car racing is immensely popular in Eastern Europe, and the local market place is very important to the Chevrolet brand. I expect to see lots of Chevrolet blue in the grand stands, especially now we’ve got the momentum going. Also in Brno, the jury of pan-European “Young, Creative, Chevrolet” art competition – presided by Chevrolet Europe Executive Director, Wayne Brannon – will select the winning project in the Visual Arts category. The theme of the Visual Arts competition was the livery of the Chevrolet Lacetti race car. One of the Chevrolet WTCC race cars will sport the winning livery in one of the end-of-season races in Europe, thus adding an extra impulse to Chevrolet’s initiative aimed at fostering young artistic talent across the continent.”
BRNO RACE SCHEDULE (Local time = CET)Saturday, 14 th June 200809.00-09.30 Free Practice 111.30-12.00 Free Practice 215.00-15.30 QualifyingSunday, 15 th June 200808.30-08.45 Warm up12.20-12.45 Race 1 (10 laps = 54.030kms) (Rolling start)15.35-16.00 Race 2 (10 laps = 54.030kms) (Standing start)
DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 8 OF 241. G Tarquini (SEAT), 45 points; 2. Y Muller (SEAT), 38; 3. R Rydell (SEAT), 37; 4. A Priaulx(BMW), 33; 5. J Gené (SEAT), 30; 6. R Huff (Chevrolet), 27;… 8. N Larini (Chevrolet), 19;… 10.A Menu (Chevrolet), 14;…
MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 8 OF 241. SEAT, 115 points; 2. BMW, 85; 3. Chevrolet, 81; 4. Honda, 10.
SUCCESS BALLAST FOR BRNO1. Y Muller (SEAT), 58kgs; 2. A Priaulx (BMW), 58kgs; 3. G Tarquini (SEAT), 55kgs; 4. R Rydell(SEAT), 47kgs; 5. A Farfus (BMW), 46kgs; 6. N Larini (Chevrolet), 39kgs; 7. R Huff (Chevrolet),37kgs; 8. J Gené (SEAT), 30kgs; 9. M Matejovsky (SEAT), 30kgs; 10. A Lvov (Honda), 30kgs, 11.A Smetsky (Honda), 30kgs; 12. J Müller (BMW), 20kgs; 13. A Menu (Chevrolet), 14kgs; 14. TMonteiro (SEAT), 12kgs; 15. T Coronel (SEAT), 10 kgs; 16. F Porteiro (BMW), 9kgs; 17. JThompson (Honda), 1kg; 18. O Tielemans (BMW), 1kg..BRNO WTCC ON TVIn Europe, the races will be broadcasted live on Eurosport International.
