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FIA WTCC Newsletter 11

TWENTY-FIVE CARS ON THE GRID AT MONZA
The 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship proved to be in excellent shape, as twenty-five cars have been entered by fifteen teams in the WTCC season opener that takes place at Monza, Italy, on March 24.

The entry list features cars built by five different Manufacturers: BMW (8), SEAT (7), Chevrolet (5), Honda (3) and LADA (2).
Twenty-four out of the twenty-five cars are full season entries; only ANOME's BMW was entered on a race-by-race basis.

FIA President Jean Todt commented: "It is very rewarding for the FIA to see that the WTCC has attracted such a field and the interest of important car Manufacturers. Quantity and quality are both there, meaning that we should expect exciting races and a close fight for the title. This success is the best evidence that the joint effort put in by the FIA and championship promoter Eurosport Events are actually paying off."

After the kick off at Monza, Italy, the World Championship will visit eleven other countries over four continents. The season's finale will be at Macau on November 17.

THREE CHAMPIONS VS A WILD BUNCH
Among the drivers who are aiming to fight for the World Champion's crown are three former WTCC winners: Yvan Muller (champion in 2008, 2010 and 2011) at the wheel of a Chevrolet Cruze run by RML, Gabriele Tarquini (champion in 2009) who drives a Civic for the Honda Racing Team JAS, and reigning champion Rob Huff who joined the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport in a SEAT León.

A wild bunch of WTCC race winners will challenge them: Tom Coronel (ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC), Stefano D'Aste (PB Racing BMW 320 TC), Tiago Monteiro (Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic), Franz Engstler (Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC), James Thompson (LADA Sport Lukoil LADA Granta) and Norbert Michelisz (Zengö Motorsport Honda Civic).

The field is completed by a number of other competitive young drivers: the 18-year old Spaniard Pepe Oriola (Tuenti Racing SEAT León), the British duo of James Nash and Alex Mac Dowall (bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze), the 2012 FIA GT1 World Champion Marc Basseng (ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport SEAT León), Tom Chilton (RML Chevrolet Cruze) and many others.

ROB HUFF'S REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE NEW SEASON
After eight years at the wheel of the RML Chevrolet cars, reigning champion Rob Huff sits in a SEAT León run by the ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport.

"I am excited. I can't wait to race with number one on my car! At the same time, I know it's going to be a tough season. The SEAT is an excellent car, but six years old. Gabriele did wonders at its wheel, but couldn't get really close to the Chevrolet cars. I have to be realistic, but I am also optimistic. New things are happening in the championship and if the circumstances are right, we may be good. My aim is to win a few races and claim some other podium results. I am confident that it will be an enjoyable year for me."

The German team are new to WTCC, but they won the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship. Huff joined them for the first time in a test at the Slovakia Ring.

"The test was very good, but it was only one day. However, right from the beginning I felt comfortable in the car and with the team. They are an amazing team, but for sure when I first met them it was different after nine years at RML. They were speaking German instead of English! And yet the feeling was familiar. Professional teams look all the same."

One day test is hardly enough to understand the potential of a racing car. "I cannot really say what are its strong points. It would be difficult to compare it to the Chevrolet, that has been the fastest car in the last years. The first feeling was good, the engine looks strong, the chassis reacts in a way that reminds me the Cruze. The car is balanced and behaves well. SEAT Sport people are one of the best teams and the León has achieved so much in the past, with Gabriele and Yvan, but has no longer been developed recently. I hope I can help the team to develop it a bit further."

The 2013 WTCC promises exciting competition on track and Huff doesn't go too far with predictions. "I am not a betting man. Everybody thinks that Yvan is the man to beat. I know very well how much him and the Chevrolet may be quick. But Gabriele and Tiago will be competitive too, as they did a lot of testing. And there are other people to watch. Anyone in a Chevrolet: Nash, Chilton, MacDowall. The BMW guys and we can't forget Thompson and the LADA. They have worked one year on the car and I'm sure they have improved a lot. I hope we can be good and fight with them, but we can't really say who has the best package until we get to Monza and start running all together. I hope we upset a few people during the season..."

EIGHT TEAMS TESTED AT MONZA THIS WEEK
Eight WTCC teams have gone to Monza one week before the season opener, for the last couple of days of testing before the season kicks off on the Italian glorious racetrack.

They were welcomed by bright sky, although temperatures were rather cold.

The Honda Racing Team JAS ran their two Civic cars for Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini; ROAL Motorsport tested with Tom Coronel and Darryl O'Young; Campos Racing and Tuenti Racing had Fernando Monje and Pepe Oriola respectively; Charles Ng and Franz Engstler drove for the Liqui Moly Team Engstler; Mehdi Bennani tested with Proteam and Stefano D'Aste with PB Racing; ANOME joined with test driver Stéphane Caillet as Jean-Philippe Dayraut could not attend.

NIKA RACING CONFIRM MICHEL NYKJÆR
Michel Nykjær will race in the NIKA Racing's Chevrolet Cruze in the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship, as drive and team continue their successful partnership after two years in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship.

The 32-year old Dane is an experienced touring car driver; twice winner of the European Touring Car Cup (2007 and 2008) and the Danish Touring Car Championship (2007 and 2009), five race victories and a third position in the 2012 STCC, Nykjær is a familiar face in WTCC. He competed in two full seasons (2010 and 2011) claiming one podium result and finishing as runner up in the 2011 Yokohama Trophy.

"I'm thrilled to return to action in the WTCC, and especially with NIKA Racing. We have gained huge respect for each other in our STCC programme, and we are definitely ready to take this step. The WTCC is incredibly competitive, but I think we have some important ingredients in place for a strong campaign. I know the majority of the circuits on the calendar, and the Chevrolet Cruze has been the car to beat over the past few years. I'm immensely motivated to get going and I will fight for every tenth, every lap!" Nykjær said.

MONJE AND VALENTE TO RACE FOR CAMPOS
Campos Racing unveiled the names of the drivers who will be driving the team's two SEAT León cars in the 2013 FIA WTCC. They are Fernando Monje and Hugo Valente.

Monje, 20-year old from Barcelona, faces his first full season in the World Touring Car Championship after clinching in a dominant way the 2012 FIA European Touring Car Cup title and joining the WTCC for the second half of the season. His best results were two tenth places in Brazil and at Macau.

Valente, 20 as well but from France, is the reigning champion of the French SEAT León Supercópa and had his first taste of WTCC last year at Shanghai.

LUKOIL EXPANDS SUPPORT TO YVAN MULLER
After announcing support to LADA Sport, Lukoil, one of the most important Russian oil companies, will also sponsor the RML Chevrolet Cruze of Yvan Muller.

Evgeniy Malinovsky, Lukoil Motorsport Development Director commented: "Lukoil's WTCC programme provides our company with
great opporunities for developing and promoting its brand all over the world. Together with LADA we present modern domestic products on a global market and develop Russian drivers. It's very important for both companies in terms of marketing and sport. Last year with Gabriele Tarquini and support from SEAT Sport we won the Yokohama Teams' Trophy. Now we have made a significant step forward, being partner of a Russian manufacturer. On top of this we decided to support Yvan Muller. Now we have
three fast drivers and two professional teams united under the Lukoil brand, which gives us reasons to be optimistic!"

EUROPEAN TOURING CAR CUP READY TO GO
The 2013 FIA European Touring Car Cup will kick off next weekend at Monza as well. The series will be also part of the WTCC events at Slovakia Ring (28 April) and Salzburgring (19 May) before two stand-alone meetings in Italy (14 July) and Brno (6 October).

Eligible cars are 2.0L normally aspirated Super 2000, Super 1600 and Single Make Trophy. A field of thirty-six will race at Monza in two back-to-back 50 km races on Sunday.

Amongst the competitors are Nicolas Hamilton and Jordi Oriola, brothers of F1 former champion Lewis and WTCC driver Pepe respectively; they both run in SEAT cars.

In the S2000 class Petr Fulín, Ibrahim Okyay, Roland Hertner and Michal Matějovský are among the BMW drivers, 2012 vice champion Peter Rikly races a Honda Civic while Igor Skuz and 2012 European Hill Climbing champion Dušan Borković sit in SEAT León cars.

A platoon of Ford Fiesta cars will be fighting in the S1600, with Kevin Krammes defending his 2012 title. Last year's runner up Andreas Pfister will try to claim the Single Make Trophy dedicated to SEAT León Supercópa cars.

Three girls will be competing for the new Ladies' Trophy. The experienced Ulrike Krafft will be challenged by Andrina Gugger and Ksenya Niks.

PETER NÖCKER TROPHY CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
The ETCC turns fifty!  The roots of the FIA European Touring Car date back to 16 June 1963, when the Nürburgring hosted the 6 Hour race valid as the first round of the newly established European Touring Car Championship. A Jaguar Mk II 3.8-litre won the race in front of a crowd of 50,000, with German drivers Peter Lindner and Peter Nöcker sharing the wheel. Seven other rounds followed during the season, including hill climbings at Mont Ventoux (France) and Timmelsjoch (Austria) and a street race at Budapest's Nepligét Park. Those were other times... At the end of the season, five drivers were equal on points: Wolf-Dieter Mantzel (DKW), Hubert Hahne (BMW), Rob Slotemaker (Mini), Tom Trana (Volvo) and Nöcker who was declared winner because was competing in the largest (in terms of engine capacity) of the nine classes admitted. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European title and remember its first winner (who passed away in 2007 at the age of 79), the Peter Nöcker Trophy will be awarded at the end of the year to the drivers who has won the highest number of races, irrespectively for the class.

WATCH WTCC PREVIEW, TUESDAY ON EUROSPORT
Next Tuesday, 19 March, at 23.00 Eurosport will air a 26-minute preview of the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship. The programme includes interviews collected during the winter tests.

Honda JAS principal Alessandro Mariani and chief designer Andrea Adamo say all about the WTCC project and the Civic's technical features; Tiago Monteiro explains how the Civic has changed from last year; Rob Huff speaks about his new team; Yvan Muller says this will be another exciting championship; James Thompson expects to be competitive in the LADA Granta; Gabriele Tarquini unveils the Honda Civic's strong points; James Nash looks excited after his first test with bamboo; Norbert Michelisz admits he was impressed by the Honda; Tom Chilton aims to be at the front of the grid with RML.

Don't miss it: Tuesday, 19 March at 23.00 CET, on Eurosport 1 !

EUROSPORT TV PROGRAMMES
Saturday, 23 March: 15.00/15.45, WTCC Qualifying - LIVE on Eurosport 2
Sunday, 24 March: 09.30/10.00, WTCC Warm Up - LIVE on Eurosport 2
Sunday, 24 March: 14.45/15.45, WTCC Race 1 - LIVE on Eurosport 2
Sunday, 24 March: 17.00/18.00, WTCC Race 2 - LIVE on Eurosport 1
Monday, 25 March: 00.30, Inside WTCC on Eurosport 1
Tuesday, 26 March: 19.15/20.15, ETCC Races 1 and 2 on Eurosport 2