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FIA WTCC Newsletter 4
EUROSPORT LAUNCHES WTCC ASIA TROPHY
The increasing participation of Asian drivers who enter on a race-by-race basis in the WTCC events that take place in the Far East, has pushed Eurosport Events to launch a dedicated trophy.
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The first Eurosport Asia Trophy will be awarded at the end of the 2013 season to the best Asian driver on the basis of the results achieved in Suzuka, Shanghai and Macau.
WTCC General Manager Marcello Lotti explained: “In recent years we have noticed more and more interest in WTCC from the Asian drivers. Especially because most of the former WTCC cars continue racing in the national championships in Macau, Hong Kong, China and other countries in the Far East. To encourage them and in appreciation of their efforts, we have decided to award a special trophy that will be handed during the end of the season prize giving at Macau. And on top of this we are currently negotiating with potential sponsors to allocate a prize money.”
The Trophy will be reserved to race-by-race entrants and will award points to the eight best drivers classified in each of the six races, according to the following scale: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One additional point will be awarded for each point scored in the WTCC Drivers’ Championship.
Eurosport Asia Pacific will air a Congratulations campaign dedicated to the winning driver who will also benefit from exposure on the WTCC website and social media.
In 2012, thirteen Asian drivers had entered in at least one of the three WTCC events in the Far East.
MÜNNICH MOTORSPORT TO RUN THREE SEAT CARS
2012 FIA GT1 world champion ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport switch to the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The German team will field three SEAT León WTCC cars for René Münnich, Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock.
Team principal Münnich, who had a first spell of WTCC last year, when he took part in the races at Suzuka at the wheel of a SEAT León run by Special Tuning Racing, explained: “After completing our successful programme in GT1 we were looking for a new challenge, and the WTCC is the right one for the team. At Suzuka we started learning about the series, because the basis for success is not to get caught by surprise. SEAT is the logical partner for us and the car promises to be reliable and competitive. The whole team are looking forward to the new season.”
In 2012 Münnich Motorsport claimed both the FIA GT1 world title for Teams and Drivers with Basseng and Winkelhock sharing a Mercedes SLS car. Together with Münnich they recently took part in the Dubai 24 Hours in a SEAT León Supercópa.
“The León Supercópa is very similar to its WTCC sister and we took the opportunity of racing in Dubai to get used to how handle this kind of car. We finished second in our class after spending four hours in the pit because of technical problems, but the result didn’t matter to us. It has been a successful test and we have learned a lot,” said Basseng.
The team will receive the first of their three SEAT cars between the end of January and the first days in February, and afterwards they will start testing in Spain.
MONTEIRO AND TARQUINI HAPPY WITH FIRST TEST
Honda Racing Team J.A.S. drivers Tiago Monteiro and Gabriele Tarquini were happy after the first test they completed last week at Valencia, where they covered more than 800 kilometres at the wheel of the Honda Civic test car.
“It was a concentrated test and the car ran without any technical issue, which enabled us to make enough kilometres. We focused on general testing for engine mapping, electronics and suspensions. In the next tests we will work on more specific areas. These test sessions are very important for the development of the car. I think we are doing a good job, and day after day the car is improving,” said Monteiro.
Tarquini was happy to sit again in the car he hadn’t driven since last August’s test at Portimão: “I was pleased to see that the Civic has made significant progress, which was the result of the experience gained in the three events of the past season. On the other hand I was disappointed to find that the track had been resurfaced. I had tested a lot there with SEAT, and I counted on that experience to evaluate the performance of our car. Unfortunately the new tarmac made impossible to make any comparison.”
The drivers focused on testing new parts that have been designed for the 2013 season. “This was our priority, because we had to verify and check some parts, like the suspension, that cannot be changed once the car is homologated. I am confident we have done a good job, especially because we had the confirmation that, following last Summer’s tests, we were heading in the right direction.”
The team will test again in Spain, on the second week of February at the Circuito Motorland Aragón.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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