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FIA WTCC And Asian Le Mans Join Forces
For the first time ever the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and the Asian Le Mans will feature together in the same race meeting: the WTCC Race of Japan that will take place at the Okayama International Circuit from Friday, October 30th to Sunday, November 1st.
This combination of the short and breathtaking WTCC races and Asian Le Mans’ long distance runs with the excitement of pit-stops is set to offer a unique show to the Japanese fans.
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The WTCC-Asia Le Mans meeting in Okayama has all the ingredients to be rated as one of the highlights of the international motor sport season.
The event was launched today during a press conference at the French Embassy in Tokyo.
WTCC’S PENULTIMATE EVENT
The WTCC – one of the three FIA World Championships alongside Formula One and WRC – returns to Okayama for the second consecutive year, for its penultimate event of the season, before the Grand Finale at Macau, on November 22nd.
During its fifth season, the WTCC has continued its steady growth in terms of global popularity and exposure.
During the current season the WTCC is broadcast on more than 75 TV networks across 160 countries, including live extensive broadcasts on Eurosport, the n°1 pan-European TV channel.
This unique coverage includes high-quality and innovative Live TV production, as the series has become this year the first FIA World Championship produced in native High Definition. And these efforts are paying off as is highlighted by the recent intermediary study released by German independent Institute IFM. The study showed that after 7 out of the 12 events, a global audience of 313 million viewers watched the WTCC races, against a total audience of 350 million for the entire 2008 season.
Now the series is about land in Japan for rounds 21 and 22 after visiting ten countries in three continents – America, Africa and Europe – with a strong field of 27 cars that includes some of the Japanese fans’ favourites like Alex Zanardi, Tom Coronel, Rickard Rydell, João Paulo Lima de Oliveira and local heroes Seiji Ara, Nobuteru Taniguchi and Masaki Kano.
The meeting in Okayama will mark the championship’s second visit to the land of the Rising Sun after an extremely successful maiden appearance in 2008 that resulted in two exciting races that – in spite of very wet weather – were attended by a crowd of 28,000.
"We are very honoured and proud to come back to Japan. Last year’s first visit to Okayama represented an important landmark for WTCC, as we finally managed to reach one of the main goals we had set since 2005: bringing the FIA touring cars to the land where many of the major car manufacturers are based," championship promoter Marcello Lotti explained.
And he added: "The 2008 race meeting was blessed by a success that even exceeded our expectations in terms of attendance at the track and media coverage. This year we aim to go even further. With the addition of the Asian Le Mans Series and – hopefully – milder weather, we are confident that the 2009 WTCC Race of Japan may definitely plant the seed of touring car fever in Japan!"
ASIAN LE MANS SERIES: THE BIG FIRST!
You only have to pronounce the words « Le Mans » for the person you are addressing, no matter what part of the world you are in, to immediately think « car race », and with no need whatsoever for any translation. The longevity – the very least when it is a question of Endurance racing – and the success, never denied, of one of the greatest races in the world, the "24 Heures du Mans" (234,800 spectators in 2009), have led to this flattering reputation. The 2009 edition of the "24 Heures du Mans" benefited from a cumulative television audience of 101 million, and the pictures were beamed into 170 countries, with 285 hours of production, 215 of which were live.
The recipe, so skilfully elaborated by the teams of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), having led the "24 Heures du Mans" to the rank of a world event, lived up so well to the expectations of the car manufacturers, the spectators and of the media, that America fell under its charm. And in 1999, The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was created, using the technical rules of the "24 Heures du Mans", with its famous "Prototype" (LM P1 and LM P2) and "GT" (LM GT1 and LM GT2) categories, thus making it possible to follow several races in one alone. Ten years and eleven seasons later, its success remains unchallenged, and it has continued to maintain its popularity.
The influence and magnetism of the "Le Mans" formula in the world could not remain outside the ‘Old World’, and in 2004, a challenge, similar to that of the ALMS, and which delighted the wishes of the European competitors, was set up by the ACO. This, of course, refers to the Le Mans Series (LMS), which now already has six seasons behind it.
After America and Europe, it is now the Asian continent which welcomes the ACO’s knowhow. The ACO is particularly flattered by this, and is delighted to see many Japanese teams and drivers getting ready to go into battle, on home soil, against those European and American visitors they have already encountered outside Japan.
The major manufacturers, faithful to Endurance racing, are present at the Okayama event, a rare moment in the history of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: that of the kick-off of a new Le Mans Series in a third continent!
"What is more, the Asian le Mans Series will add extra value to the Intercontinental Trophy which we are determined to put into place in 2011," declares Rémy Brouard, General Manager of the ACO. "A Trophy which will consist of a selection of 5 to 7 races of the Le Mans Series: ALMS, LMS and the Asian Le Mans Series. Moreover, we are very pleased and honoured by the interest shown by all the Japanese car manufacturers, who have indicated their intention to be present at Okayama in the morning of the 31st October for the opening ceremony."
The Asian Le Mans Series gets off the ground at Okayama in the format of two 500- kilometre races: the first one on Saturday (12h35 p.m. – 15h35 p.m.), and the second one on Sunday (9h05 a.m. - 12h05 p.m.); There are 23 entrants, including 9 prototypes, representing 14 makes (including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lola, Oreca-AIM, Pescarolo-Judd, Porsche, Saleen…), and 9 nationalities. There are 8 Asian teams: 7 Japanese and 1 Chinese. Among the Japanese drivers will be: M. Kageyama, T. Kojima, S. Mitsuyama, T. Tsuchiya, A. Tsuzuki, etc.
Pictures of the races will be broadcast by TV Osaka / Eurosport: 3 hours’ live, twice, + 52 minutes of the highlights of the two races. They will be beamed throughout the world, and especially in Japan, by J Sport / ESPN, which will be showing live coverage of the Sunday race, and the 52 minutes. Contacts:
PaddockTalk Perspective
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