Third Constructors World Champion title within reach at Sonoma
The summer break is over for the WTCC as the worlds top touring car series prepares for a landmark first visit to the United States.
The beautiful 4,025-km raceway nested in Sonoma in the wine region close to San Francisco will be a unique opportunity for American racing fans to discover the series, which is quickly expanding at global level.
The event is raising great expectation among the WTCC community and the Chevrolet team, as this will be the first time the Cruzes race at home, and also because Chevrolet can mathematically clinch its third Constructor crown in a row.
To achieve this coveted goal, Chevrolet will have to score 42 points more than BMW and 37 more than SEAT in California. The maximum of Constructors points awarded per weekend is 95.The ninth event of the calendar comes at the start of the final stretch of the season, with only three rounds to go after the US: Japan, China and Macau.Apart from the Constructors Title, the three Chevrolet drivers top the Drivers Standings.
Reigning World Champion Yvan Muller leads teammates Rob Huff and Alain Menu, by 17 and 37 points respectively. The fight for top spot will likely continue until the very last race.
QUOTESYvan Muller: Its nice to go back to racing after the summer break. In truth, I continuedracing over the last few weeks, but on my bicycle. I prepared well for the Le Mans Biking 24Hours at the end of August, but things did not go that well. We entered the challenge as atwo-man team but unfortunately we pulled out after nearly nine hours of cycling after myteammate suffered an injury. I could not finish the race alone.Now is time to think about Sonoma. It is certainly a big thing for the WTCC to be racing inthe US for the first time, and everybody is excited. This is especially the case for me as Im agreat fan of the US, and of the American culture and way of life.I have never been to Sonoma, so there is little I could say about the track. I will approachthis round as alwaystrying to do the best I can on and off the track. Were entering the finalstraight of the championship and things are starting to get serious.
Rob Huff: I have taken the opportunity of the long break to get married. Jazz (Jasmine) andI have been a couple for several years and we had planned this to happen sooner or later. Itis a big moment in a persons life, so the focus for me in recent weeks has shifted to morepersonal matters. Well go on honeymoon in January after the championship is over.Now the priority is racing and this final part of the championship is going to be decisive. Ourfirst stop is Sonoma. Its great to be in the U.S. for the first time and its the home country ofChevrolet, so we need to do our best.Like my teammates, I have never raced in Sonoma but we have been working on data,simulations and footage. It looks like a great circuit and I look forward to being there.
Alain Menu: The Sonoma track is unknown territory for me. What I know is that it is anatural track, which could be compared to Spa or Brno in Europe, and thats great news forme because I love that type of circuit. I have never been to the West Coast of the U.S. so Iam anxious to go out to explore and discover San Francisco and the wine region.Regarding the Championship, I am still in a great position to claim the title and wont give up,although I also need Yvan and Rob to be unlucky at some point to have a real shot at it.
Ron Hartvelt: Clearly, with the cars and the equipment going straight from Brazil to the U.S.,not much has happened in between the two races. There has not been any testing and mostof the team has used the opportunity to take a break. The cars didnt sustain a great deal ofdamage in Curitiba, so we have only flown out the few parts we needed to repair. We willalso have a few updates in the U.S.We were able to gather some useful data on Sonoma and we carried out a lot of simulations.I think we have a good basis to start from in terms of set-ups. What we know for sure is thatSonoma is quite a challenging track, with a lot of heavily-loaded corners, so tires will be anaspect to watch very closely.
Eric Nve: The first WTCC event in the United States is really going to be a great momentfor the series, which confirms its global dimension, and for the Chevrolet team, which will beracing for the first time in the home country of our brand. It is always an excellent opportunityto showcase the Cruze as a truly global nameplate.American fans are used to stock car racing, but I am sure they will enjoy the WTCC and allits action. I am curious to see their reaction. They are not used to see these models racing,but they will find familiar Chevrolets and Fords competing.Mathematics has it that we could be Constructors Champions at Sonoma. It would befabulous to clinch our third consecutive World Champion title in our home race.
SONOMA ROUND SCHEDULE (Local time = CET -9)
Friday, 21 September 201213:45-14:15 (22:45-23:15 CET) Testing
Saturday, 22 September 201209:00-09:30 (18:00-18:30 CET) Free Practice 111:30-12:00 (20:30-21:00 CET) Free Practice 214:15-14:50 (23:15-23:50 CET) Qualifying
Sunday, 23 September 201209:00-09:15 (10:00-18:15 CET) Warm up12:15-12:40 (21:15-21:40 CET) Race 1 (13 laps = 52.325 kms) (Rolling start)13:30-13:55 (22:30-22:55 CET) Race 2 (13 laps = 52.325 kms) (Standing start)
SONOMA WTCC ON TVIn Europe, qualifying, warm up and the races are be broadcasted live on EurosportInternational.
WTCC DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 16 OF 241. Muller (Chevrolet), 287; 2. Huff (Chevrolet), 270; 3. Menu (Chevrolet), 250; 4. Tarquini(SEAT), 162 ; 5. Coronel (BMW), 150 ; 13. McDowall (Chevrolet), 36; 15. Nykjr(Chevrolet), 20; 17. Rydell (Chevrolet)
WTCC MANUFACTURERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 16 OF 241. Chevrolet, 673 points; 2. BMW, 430; 3. SEAT, 425.
