Muller, Huff and Menu launch penultimate assault at Chinas F1 track
The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) heads to Shanghai for the penultimate event of the 2012 season with the three Chevrolet drivers vying for the top spot ahead of the showdown two weeks later in Macau.
With the Manufacturers title firmly in the hands of Chevrolet, the attention has shifted to the chase for the Drivers crown, which mathematically can only be won by one of the three Chevrolet works drivers.
The Race of China, Round 11 of the 2012 WTCC season, sees Yvan Muller and Rob Huff tied on 345 points, with the Frenchman leading by virtue of more wins (8 to 4). Teammate Alain Menu, 38 points behind the top two on 307, is still very much in the running having significantly reduced the gap on Muller and Huff at the last outing in Japan. However, he will need to close the gap further in Shanghai to keep his hopes alive for the final round in Macau.
Shanghai is the second stop in the WTCC Asian tour. The vibrant Chinese metropolis played host to the series last year but on a different track. This year, the WTCC is moving to the International Circuit, the main motorsports facility in the area that also hosts F1.The worlds elite touring car racing championship will use a modified 4.603 km version of the circuit, skipping turns 5 to 7 of the F1 track. Each of the two races will be run over 13 laps.The RML-run Cruzes are expected to keep the level of competitiveness consistently shown during the season even though this is a new track for WTCC racing.World Champions Chevrolet lead the Manufacturers race on 835 points followed by BMW on 543 and SEAT on 532.There will be two additional Cruzes entered in Shanghai alongside three works cars and the two cars of Bamboo Engineering.
West Surrey Racing will be present with an Aviva-livered car for Colin Turkington, who has already shone in the WTCC in the recent past, while Hong Kong driver Eric Kwong will be at the wheel of the 2-litre normally aspirated Look Fong Racing Team Cruze with which he recently won the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship. China Dragon Racing have entered a similar Cruze for Ng Kin Veng from Macau as well as an older Chevrolet Lacetti for Felipe C. De Souza who also hails from Macau, bringing the Chevrolet entry for the event to 9 from the total of 29.
The Shanghai races will take place on 3-4 November. The final round will be held two weeks later in Macau.
QUOTESYvan Muller: It will be another new circuit for everybody. On paper, Shanghai is bigger andfaster than Suzuka, so overtaking should be much easier and this should give us some livelyraces.The situation in the championship is really exciting. I dont think weve ever had such a closefight in the WTCC before. My objective is to collect as many points as possible. It would begreat to go into the last race at Macau with a points advantage this would make thingseasier for me.I dont know much about the Shanghai track and I have not done much research on theinternet about it. Footage and data are one thing, but reality is different. Generally, when wego to a new circuit, I get there as early as possible so I have time to walk or cycle around thetrack to check every detail. Thats much more effective than simulations or watching TVfootage.For the rest, Im preparing myself physically and adjusting progressively to the timedifference. There is a great deal of travelling back and forth from Asia in this part of theseason, so physical condition, sleep and food become very important.
Rob Huff: Im very happy with how things went for me in Japan. The battle for the title iscloser than ever as Yvan and I are on the same points. I have never been in such a strongposition to win the championship.Its great to go to Shanghai and have the privilege to race on the F1 track. Im really anxiousto get there. I think well have closely-fought races as the track seems to allow for that. It willbe important to qualify well and my first objective is to improve my grid position. My last threesessions did not go that well and I qualified third among the three Cruzes, so my first goal isto end up on the front row.With regards the races, its important to collect maximum points and get to Macau ahead. Ifthat happens, I feel quite confident I can make it as Macau, a circuit where I won four timesalready, is very special for me.
Alain Menu: Like all WTCC drivers, I feel very excited to race on a new track, especially asShanghai is one of the most modern F1 circuits. It has a long straight and is a very fast track,so the Cruzes should be quite competitive there. On paper, it reminds me of Monza.I was very happy to reduce the points gap at Suzuka, and thats exactly what I aim to do inChina. I have no choice if I want to remain in contention for the title, I have to cut the gap byanother 10 to 12 points. If so, I think I still have a chance in Macau, where traditionallyanything can happen.
Ron Hartvelt, Project Manager RML: Suzuka was successful for us and we were verypleased to see how smoothly the battle between our three drivers went. I think we can expectmore action in Shanghai as this is a completely different circuit, where you can overtake andwhere you have a straight long enough to allow slipstreaming.
As we approach the end of the season and the decisive moment, the battle for the Driverstitle is going to heat up, but we are confident that we can manage this and have total trust inour drivers, who are tough but fair competitors and, importantly, great professionals.Clearly, we have never been to the big Shanghai track, so we could only work onsimulations and work out the rest on site. With less than two weeks in between Japan andChina, the containers carrying the cars will arrive relatively late, so once again we are on avery tight schedule.
SHANGHAI RACE SCHEDULE (Local time = CET +7 hours)Friday 2 November 201213.30-14.00 (06.30-07.00 CET) TestingSaturday 3 November 201208.40-09.10 (01.40-02.10 CET) Free Practice 111.20-12.50 (04.20-04.50 CET) Free Practice 215.30-16.05 (08.30-09.05 CET) Qualifying 1Sunday 4 November 201209.00-09.15 (02.00-02.15 CET) Warm up14.50-15.15 (07.50-08.15 CET) Race 1 (Rolling start)16.05-16.30 (09.05-09.30 CET) Race 2 (Standing start)
SHANGHAI WTCC ON TVIn Europe, qualifying, warm up and the races are be broadcasted live on EurosportInternational.
WTCC DRIVERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 20 OF 241. Muller (Chevrolet), Huff (Chevrolet), 345; 3. Menu (Chevrolet), 307; 4. Tarquini (SEAT),220; 5. Coronel (BMW), 170; 9. MacDowall (Chevrolet), 66; 15. Nykjr (Chevrolet), 20;17. Rydell (Chevrolet), 14
WTCC MANUFACTURERS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 20 OF 241. Chevrolet, 835 points; 2. BMW, 543; 3. SEAT, 532.
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