At The Track Where It Has Won Three Times Over The Last Three Years
Brands Hatch, is where the eighth event of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship will take place, is not only one of the most revered venues of international motorsports; it is also a very special place for the members of the Chevrolet WTCC team, as this is the circuit where Chevrolet conquered its first WTCC win. It was back in 2006, on a rainy day, when Alain Menu brought the Lacetti in first position under the chequered flag, a success the Swiss driver repeated in 2007 and 2008. And, of course, Brands Hatch is also special to RML because this is there home event, only a few dozen miles away from its base in Wellingborough.
No surprise, then, that expectation is high ahead of the racing debut in Brands Hatch of the new Cruze, which should be competitive at the technical Kent track. Following the intense development programme undertaken since the start of the European season, a number of detail changes will be introduced for the Brands event and another testing session is scheduled at Snetterton two days before the Race of the United Kingdom.
QUOTES Rob Huff: “I am obviously excited to be at Brands Hatch, my home event, and eager to mend what happened last year, when I lost the race lead on the penultimate lap because of a punctured tyre. There will be a lot of friends and fans, including 300 of my own guests, so I expect an electric atmosphere! Although we have never tested with the Cruze at Brands, I think the car will be strong there and that we can aim at some good results for team. After Brands, my following racing commitments will be on 16 August, and this will be a demo at a hill climb event in Altbüron, in Switzerland. I know it’s quite a major event there, and I will be driving one of the ex-2005 Lacettis, so I am anxious to add this new experience to my CV!”
Nicola Larini: “This time, we play at RML’s home and I am pretty confident that the Cruze will be competitive. I think all the conditions are there to have a good week-end, even if it rains, which at Brands Hatch it is almost sure, at some point or another! The key, once again, will be having good qualifying results and being able to be as high as possible on the grid”.
Alain Menu: “I love Brands so much that I consider it as home ... and it is always good to be back home. I love the circuit and I love the atmosphere. I have won there every year since 2006 and I hope to keep the trend and to get rid of the bad luck I had in the last three events. Honestly, even if the competition is very strong, I think the Cruze should be competitive in Brands, given also the weight compensation table for this event.”
Mark Busfield: “We are again on a very short turn-around and the team has been working hard after the races in Porto. Nic’s car has been completely repaired after his accident in race 2, while Alain’s, which sustained some more severe damage, will need more time to be re-built. Therefore Alain will be using the spare car in Brands, which he will also drive at the test session at Snetterton the Wednesday before the race week-end. At Brands we will have introduced some new items on the car, to improve the durability and serviceability of the Cruze”.
Eric Nève: “The Cruze is doing well on the track but is also off for a very good start in the marketplace. Sales figures in Europe for the first six months of the year show that despite the market contraction, which is significant in Russia and other Central and Eastern European countries, Chevrolet is keeping its 2.2% market share. We have registered strong sales growth in some key countries such as France, Germany, Spain and the UK, and there is no doubt that the new Cruze is contributing to this good result. The WTCC program is a key element in the marketing mix of the Cruze’s launch and a further proof of the growing interest at global level for our racing programme is the request made by markets such as China, Greece and Singapore to have show-cars of the Cruze WTCC to support their local marketing activities around the Cruze”. .
BRANDS HATCH RACE SCHEDULE (CET -1)
Saturday, 18th July 2009
09.00-09.30 (08.00-08.30) Free Practice 1 11:15-11:45 (11.15-11.45) Free Practice 2 15.00-15.35 (14.00-14.35) Qualifying (Q1 20’ + Q2 10’)
Sunday, 19th July 2009
10.00-10.15 (09.00-09.15) Warm up 11.50-12.15 (10.50-11.15) Race 1 (14 laps = 51.842 kms) (Rolling start) 14.05-14.30 (13.05-13.30) Race 2 (14 laps = 51.842 kms) (Standing start)
BRANDS HATCH WTCC ON TV
In Europe, qualifying, warm up and the races are be broadcasted live on Eurosport International.
WTCC DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 14 OF 24 :
1. Y Muller (SEAT), 80 points; 2. A Farfus (BMW), 66; 3. G Tarquini (SEAT), 65; 4. R Rydell (SEAT), 46; 5. R Huff (Chevrolet), 43; ...12. N Larini (Chevrolet), 18; 13. A Menu (Chevrolet), 14; etc.
WTCC CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 14 OF 24:
1. SEAT, 191 points; 2. BMW, 174; 3. Chevrolet, 121; 4. Lada, 53.
