And Welcomes The Cruze
A fourth entry for Leonel Pernía, the first Argentine ever to race in a WTCC event
The European season of the World touring Car Championship (WTCC) is starting next week-end with a stop in one of the most legendarytracks in motorsport, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Italy’s F1 track will host the third roundof the season and needless to say, going back to one of the cradles of touring car racing andbeing in front of one of the warmest crowds of connoisseur fans is a prospect that delightseveryone at Chevrolet Racing.
This will be a challenging event for the Cruze, which has never raced in Monza before, as thelong straights of Lombardy’s track are more suitable to competitors, but the team is determined todo well and go back home with more heavy points. To that end, strategy will be as important aspure performance.
There will be a fourth Chevrolet Cruze entered in Italy, as Argentinean touring car specialistLeonel Pernía, a regular front-runner in the TC2000, will be making a one-off appearance in theWTCC, determined to do his utmost to contribute to the team’s success.
• QUOTESYvan Muller (Car # 6): “It is always very exciting to race on a mythical track such as Monza andI am looking forward to it, although I expect we will have to fight hard against the competition onsuch a fast track. Still, we are all motivated to improve Chevrolet’s record in this circuit and toscore some good points for the championship, knowing that after Monza, the calendar will bringus to tracks that are much more favorable to the Cruze”.
Rob Huff (Car # 7): “Monza is always special to me, as it is where I made my debut at thehighest level in touring car racing. Actually, that Monza event in 2005 also happened to be thefirst WTCC event ever, so I’m sure it is a special memory for all who were present that day. Whileit is certainly nice to be back in Italy and on a F1 track, this will be one of the most difficult racesof the for us, but I hope we can qualify well and come away with some good points”.
Alain Menu (# 8): “It’s nice to be back at Monza after two years and I am heading there with theobjective of making some nice points. After my very disappointing week-end in Marrakech, I reallylook forward to some good results. Of course, we can expect the turbo-powered cars to be infront, and also the BMWs, as they will have less weight following the coming into force of the newcompensation grid, but we will try our best to challenge all of them. Much will depend on how wellwe can help each other with slip-streaming, especially in qualifying.”
Leonel Pernía (Car #34): “I am thrilled at the prospect of making my WTCC debut in Monza andI hope I can help the Chevrolet team to achieve its goals. I am also proud of being a sort ofambassador of the WTCC to Argentina, where the series is enjoying a growing success and Ihope this will lead to always closer ties between both sides of the Atlantic”.
Ron Hartvelt: “The team had some hard work back at RML since Marrakech, as Alain’s car wasseriously damaged in the various incidents, especially in race two We are now building acompletely new car, which will be ready soon, while Alain will race in Italy with the test car.Although Monza seems to have little in common with Marrakech, it actually presents some of thechallenges we had to face in Morocco: long straights and very high top speeds, where we canexpect both our main competitors to be very competitive. A good strategy of towing and slipstreamingin qualifying will definitely be the crucial element for this event.”
Eric Nève: “No doubt we are all excited to be back in Italy, a country where Chevrolet has alwaysbeen warmly welcomed. The good news this time is that we are entering a fourth Cruze, and wemay try to repeat the experience in other selected events later in the season. I am delighted wecan have Leonel Pernía with us in Monza, as he is a big name in touring car racing in SouthAmerica and I am sure that his presence will help the team and will be a further boost for theWTCC’s popularity in Argentina”.
MONZA SCHEDULE (Local time = CET)
Friday, 21st May 201015:30-16:00 TestingSaturday, 22nd May 201009:00-09:30 Free Practice 112:15-12:45 Free Practice 216:00-16:20 Qualifying 1 (20’)16:25-16:35 Qualifying 2 (10’)Sunday, 23rd May 201009:00-09:15 warm up13:05-13:30 Race 1 (9 laps = 51.930 kames) (Rolling start)15:20-15:45 Race 2 (9 laps = 51.930 kames) (Standing start)
MONZA WTCC ON TVIn Europe, qualifying, warm up and the races are be broadcasted live on Eurosport International.
