General
ETCC: Imola: SEAT Sport preview
SEAT Sport targets victory at Imola With six races still remaining, the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship returns to Italy for Rounds 15 and 16 on Sunday September 5th. The Imola circuit near Bologna hasn't hosted a round of the ETCC ...
Edited: Jul 2, 2009, 5:39 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
SEAT Sport targets victory at Imola With six races still remaining, the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship returns to Italy for Rounds 15 and 16 on Sunday September 5th. The Imola circuit near Bologna hasn't hosted a round of the ETCC since 1987, but an encouraging test session there back in March means the three SEAT Sport Toledo Cupras are expected to do well.
Following the team's excellent performance, culminating in Jordi Gene's podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps at the end of July, hopes are also high that the team's first ETCC race win isn't far away. All three SEAT Sport drivers have enjoyed some well-earned time off since Spa. Jordi Gene carried out a two-day endurance test at Calafat before heading for the Spanish mountains and Ibiza, while Rickard Rydell's been making the most of the Swedish summer on his boat and Frank
Diefenbacher has spent two weeks relaxing in Spain. The three will meet up for a tyre test at Vallelunga next week, before moving on to Imola.
Rickard Rydell: "I've never raced at Imola - in fact, the only time I've driven there was on the Media Day -- so I'll only have the practice sessions to get up to speed. From what Jordi and Frank have told me, the circuit should really suit us; the Toledo is good over the kerbs and good at changing direction quickly. We were more competitive at Spa than we thought we'd be, so we're all really positive about the next two race meetings. Now is the time for us to win races, I think!"
Jordi Gene: "Imola should really suit the Toledo, as it's a fast circuit with lots of corners and not too many long straights. Also, Spa went so well for us that I'm really feeling positive about my driving. To be honest, I am full of hope about both the next two race meetings. It's always difficult to judge beforehand, but if we're going to win any races this year, I think it will happen at either Imola or Oschersleben."
Frank Diefenbacher: "I'm really looking forward to Imola -- I was really strong there at the winter test. I think the track suits my style of driving very well, while the car also works well braking into corners. There are a number of places where I'm expecting us to be very fast, like the left/right chicane in the first section and in the braking zone into the double left-hander. Obviously, we don't know how strong the other teams will be, but we're confident we'll do well."
-seat-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article GM Racing Bonneville Salt notes 2004-08-26
Next article Formula Ford round seven summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jordi Gene
Huff critical of "stupid" Gene after Macau TCR pile-up
TCR
TCR
Macau
Huff critical of "stupid" Gene after Macau TCR pile-up
Team Craft-Bamboo take a one-two victory at Sepang
TCR
TCR
Sepang
Team Craft-Bamboo take a one-two victory at Sepang
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship's latest news
BTCC
BTCC
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship's latest news
Latest news
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
55 min
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
3 h
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
10 h
Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
15 h
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
General
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 Can-Am drivers
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe