PART THREE: FIA TOURING CARS
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Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2003 season of the FIA European Touring Car Championship will take place at the British circuit of Donington Park. After 8 races, Tarquini leads with a score of 44 points, ahead of sole British driver Andy Priaulx, with Dirk and Jörg Müller third and fourth respectively.
Both Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx, the Brno race winners, will carry the maximum penalty weight of 40 kg for Donington. Championship leader Gabriele Tarquini will carry 30 kg, while reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi will have 10 extra kilos on his nr 1 Team BMW Italy-Spain car.
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TARQUINI DEFENDS HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
After two clever races in Brno, Gabriele Tarquini is now alone in the lead of the Drivers Championship. The Italian driver and his Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156 Gta are followed by three BMW men, Andy Priaulx, Dirk and Jörg Müller, who are lying respectiving 4, 6 and 8 points behind him. “I have high hopes for Donington, because I like the track a lot and it definitely suits better our car than Brno. Last year Donington marked my return to the FIA ETCC and to Alfa Romeo, and I was pleased to finish on the podium. Now I have a much better feeling with the car, thus, despite the 30 kg of ballast I will be carrying, I am confident we can be competitive. Particularly because we have done a lot of good testing in order to optimize the car’s consistency over the race distance. This should also help us to reduce the tyre wear and also the gap in performance we usually have between qualifying and the race,” said former British Touring Car Champion Tarquini, who remains a favourite with the British fans.
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PRIAULX EAGER TO PLEASE THE BRITISH FANS
Despite being in his first season in the FIA European Touring Car Championship, Andy Priaulx has scored his first win in Brno at the wheel of his BMW Great Britain-backed BMW 320i. Heading for his home event, he is currently second in the Drivers Championship and the leading BMW drivers. “The secret of our success is the critical approach we have had from the beginning. We work very well together, BMW Great Britain, RBM and myself, although we did not expect to arrive in Donington second in the Championship. Obviously we are looking forward to this meeting and I’m eager to please the British fans, but my knowledge of the circuit won’t be an advantage. The competition is so tough and the level of the drivers so high that even the few who don’t know Donington will learn it quickly. We’ll have two tough and very close races, and having 40 kg of ballast onboard won’t help me.”
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TESTING FOR ALFA ROMEO AND BMW
Alfa Romeo and BMW both spent time testing after Brno. BMW Team Italy-Spain visited Magione, where Antonio García and Fabrizio Giovanardi tested a number of different set-up solutions, with the young Spaniard being fastest with a time of 1:16.2, half a second quicker than Giovanardi. The following week Alfa Romeo works team Autodelta spent two days at Ferrari’s own circuit in Fiorano; Gabriele Tarquini focused on testing the car’s set-up, while Nicola Larini worked on new engine steps and maps. The two Italian teams then tested together at the Austrian A-1 Ring, where they were joined by BMW Team Great Britain’s Andy Priaulx. Again García set the fastest time, with a lap of 1:41.36, only six hundredths of a second quicker than Tarquini’s 1:41.42; The best times for Giovanardi and Priaulx were 1:41.62 and 1:42.11 respectively.
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SEAT AIMING FOR MORE POINTS
In the points again at Brno, the SEAT Sport team is now aiming to score with both cars at Donington Park. “This is a very good track for the Toledo Cupra, because it suits cars with good chassis. And our chassis is continuously improving. I also like the circuit very much and I have always obtained good results there, since my Formula 3 years,” said Jordi Gené, who achieved his only ETCC podium result so far at Donington last year. “My morale is excellent. I know we can do well there, although I can’t expect another podium, because we are not yet ready for that. But we definitely have the potential to fight for points, and that is our goal.” After Brno, the SEAT Sport team spent two days testing at the Spanish track of Calafat.
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HONDA PROGRAMMES STEPS UP WITH JAS
PRO Motorsport and JAS Motorsport have upgraded their partnership. In Donington, JAS Motorsport will be in charge of running the Honda Civic Type-R cars on behalf of the Scottish team. “We will also look after the technical and logistics assistances, and we have revised the cars in our own workshop,” engineer Stefano Fini explained. Nine people from JAS Motorsport will attend the FIA ETCC meeting, including Fini as technical director. PRO Motorsport’s Alan Martin remains in charge as sporting director. “We expect to make a leap forward in performances. We know the car has a huge potential, we just have to fully exploit it. And I’m sure we will be able to do it thanks to JAS’s expertise,” said Martin. The team is currently talking to a number of good drivers to join André Couto.
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FIRST POINTS FOR THE ART VOLVOS?
During the last event in Brno, Rickard Rydell and his ART Engineering Volvo S60 fought for the points. Now both he and the team are looking forward to Donington, where the Volvo cars proved to be very competitive last year. “We are quite optimistic,” says team principal Paolo Alessandrini, adding: “We have worked very much on refining the cars’ set-up on the basis of the experience gained in the first part of the season.” As during last year, the Volvo S60’s weak point is the engine. “So far we have suffered from a lack of power and overheating, but we are confident that from now on the situation will improve. We have just received two totally revised engines from Sweden. According to what they told us, all problems have been solved. If this is true, we may be aiming for scoring our first points in the Championship,” Alessandrini concluded.
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CORONEL BACK IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
After being forced to miss the previous Championship meeting in Brno due to a clashing commitment, Tom Coronel will be back at the wheel of his Carly Motors BMW 320i, which was driven by Donald Molenaar in the Czech Republic. The Dutchman is still leading the Independents Trophy by one point from Clever Cats R&M’s Fabio Francia. Coronel’s team mate Duncan Huisman and Scuderia Bigazzi’s Alessandro Balzan are in joint third position, 8 points from the lead; while second Clever Cats R&M’s driver Paolo Ruberti is fifth, one point behind them. “It was very nice of them. They all shared the points in Brno, and none of them were able to oust me from the lead. I really appreciate it,” a grateful Coronel commented.
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Contacts : Media Delegate, FIA GT Championship : Jacquie Groom
tel : +41 21 784 26 23 - fax : +41 21 784 2561 - email :
jacquie@groom.ch
Press Officer, FIA ETCC Championship : Fabio Ravaioli - email :
media@eurostc.com
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