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FIA WTCC Newsletter 3
HONDA TEAM HIT THE TRACK IN SPAIN
The Honda Racing Team J.A.S. started track activity in view of the new season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship with a three day test at Valencia.
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From Wednesday, Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro are taking turns at the wheel of the Honda Civic WTCC test cars on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. They completed 280 km on day 1 and 225 on day 2, with no technical issues. The test continues today.
Team Principal Alessandro Mariani explained: “We are testing last year’s car with a lot of new parts we have developed for 2013. Our targets are validating the best solutions to be used during the new season and continuing the technical development of the car. We are happy with the performance and feedbacks from the drivers, although it is impossible to make a comparison with the times clocked by WTCC cars in last year’s event, because the track has been recently resurfaced.”
This is also the first occasion for Tarquini to evaluate the progress made by the car, following Monteiro’s participation in the three last events of the 2012 season.
FIA ALLOCATES SAME WEIGHT TO ALL CARS
All cars that will take part in the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship will run on the same minimum weight of 1150 kilos, including the driver.
The decision was taken last week by the FIA Touring Car Committee, and a list of the eligible cars has been published in the Appendix 1 to the championship’s Sporting Regulations.
The list includes BMW 320 TC, Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T, Ford Focus WTCC, Honda Civic WTCC, SEAT León WTCC and all other cars that took part in the 2012 championship.
Compared to last year, the weight of BMW and Chevrolet cars has been reduced by ten kilos, putting them on the same level with the other machines.
The only car still missing is the LADA Granta Sport, as the Committee will decide about its weight after the homologation formalities are accomplished.
PROTEAM AND BENNANI TOGETHER AGAIN
Italy-based Proteam Racing and Morocco’s motorsport star Mehdi Bennani announced that they will continue racing together in the 2013 FIA World Touring Car Championship.
Team Principal Valmiro Presenzini said: “We are extremely pleased with this renewal of partnership between our team and Mehdi that lasts since three years. Racing in such a top level series as WTCC has made Mehdi grow up considerably. And this was proved by the outstanding results he achieved last year that culminated in his third position at the Hungaroring. We have faith in his abilities and are confident that in 2013 he could fight for the top five places of the Drivers’ Championship.”
Bennani, who was classified tenth in the 2012 WTCC, echoed: “I am very happy to stay with Proteam Racing, and I have to thank all my partners that have placed their trust in me once again. I hope that our partnership will produce great results during the 2013 season. Last year we achieved to make the top-ten in the championship, and now our goal is to improve that result.”
PaddockTalk Perspective
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