The world’s motorsport governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), confirmed the calendar of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship, which will take place over 10 races in nine countries on three continents. Cars of all the competing makes were on display outside the Hotel de Paris where the FIA’s World Council and Press Conference took place. It was the first time the Chevrolet Lacetti World Touring Car was shown publicly next to its competitors.
The first of the three Chevrolet Lacettis entered in the 2005 World Touring Car Championship will conduct its first roll-out during the first week of 2005 at an undisclosed race track in the UK. Construction of the cars is on schedule at Chevrolet Racing’s technical partner, RML, in Wellingborough. The shake down will mark the first ever time a European-built Chevrolet race car runs in anger, coinciding with the start of a three-year assault on the World Touring Car Championship.
“These are exciting days indeed,” said Chevrolet Europe’s Motorsport Manager, Eric Nève. “Construction of the test and race cars is well under way at RML and the drivers (Alain Menu, Nicola Larini and Rob Huff) are more than anxious to get started. From our side, this initial dynamic phase will help us to prove that all the systems are working as they should.”
After the initial shake down and an extensive static and dynamic rig test session, all three drivers will embark on an intensive test and development programme which will take place at several tracks in southern Europe.
Before the season starts, all the teams are invited to a group test at Monza in the fourth week of March. The first race weekend (with two races per weekend) is to be held at the same track on the 10th of April, after which the WTCC continues on a first European half-season via Magny-Cours (1 May), Silverstone (15 May) and Imola (29 May).
The first fly-away event will be held at the Puebla race track in Mexico (26 June), after which the WTCC returns to Europe for the second half-season at Spa (30 July), Oschersleben (28 August), Istanbul (18 September) and Valencia (2 October). The season’s finale will take place on the infamous street circuit of Macau in the People’s Republic of China on 20 November.
