NEWS ARCHIVE
The SR-Sport cars of Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro sport the sticker “www.saveafonso.com” in support of the website established by Macau driver André Couto to find a donor for a bone marrow transplant for his son Afonso. The 6-year old boy is currently hospitalized at Porto’s Oncological Hospital after he was diagnosed with leukaemia last November. The bone marrow transplant could save his life. Other WTCC drivers, including Andy Priaulx and Tom Coronel are giving their support.
Yvan MULLER – pole position: “My colour has changed from last year but I’m always pleased to be on pole. It’s a good way to start the season and good for building relations with my new team. I am happy for them as it shows all the hard work over the winter has paid off as the Chevrolets are placed first, third and fourth on the grid.”
Former champion Yvan Muller will be on pole for Race 1 in Curitiba tomorrow, for the second year in succession. In a closely fought session the top seven cars ended within 0.2 seconds of each other. Chevrolet dominated the session with Alain Menu (1:23.829) and Rob Huff (1:23.833) being placed third and fourth. Only Jordi Gené in his SEAT León TDI managed to split the team mates by jumping to second with his lap of 1:23.757 in the dying seconds.
Defending champion Gabriele Tarquini and his SR-Sport SEAT León TDI set the pace for the first time this weekend, posting a lap of 1:24.664 early in the session that was never beaten. BMW Team RBM’s Augusto Farfus (1:24.713) and Andy Priaulx (1:24.798) have been consistently at the top of the time sheets and narrowly missed out on another opportunity to lead the field with Farfus just 0.049 seconds adrift of the Italian.
The BMW Team RBM duo of Augusto Farfus (1:24.578) and Andy Priaulx (1:24.590) remained on top after the first practice of the day in Curitiba. Despite SEAT, Chevrolet and BMW cars exchanging the top spot throughout the session it was Farfus who posted the quickest time before an early end to the session as Harry Vaulkhard had a heavy crash at the final corner. After losing the back end of his Chevrolet Lacetti he ran wide crashing into the barrier and bringing out the red flags.
FIA WTCC promoter KSO has launched the new WTCC Rookie Challenge. All the drivers who entered in the championship’s full season for the first time are eligible for the Challenge: Norbert Michelisz, Michel Nykjær, Fredy Barth, Harry Vaulkhard, Darryl O’Young and Mehdi Bennani. The winner of the Rookie Challenge will be awarded with a trophy during the traditional end of season party at Macau.
Gabriele TARQUINI: “I am quite satisfied. We benefitted from our past experience and went out straightaway with the best set up for this track. The car was good from the very beginning so I am optimistic. I was really surprised by how much grip there was on the track. Last year we were struggling to find grip but now it’s totally different.”
Local man Augusto Farfus posted the fastest lap during today’s test as the 2010 WTCC season officially got underway at the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba. The Brazilian topped the timesheets in his BMW 320si at the halfway point, before the session was briefly halted when Stefano D’Aste lost the back end of his BMW 320si and ended beached in the gravel at turn four. In the dying moments of the session, Farfus bettered his earlier time clocking a 1:24.243 to remain on top.
With the start of the 2010 season, the FIA World Touring Car Championship is delighted to announce the launch today of its new application for iPhone. This official WTCC application is free to download and is a must-have for fans who want to catch up with all the latest news from the WTCC. Divided into three main sections - News, Race and Season - the service provides exclusive data and features.
