Chevrolet Valencia test notes 2010-11-13

MULLER AND HUFF SATISFIED WITH THE CRUZE'S PROGRESS AFTER TWO DAYS OF TESTING AT VALENCIA

Graham Watson Made His Debut In Spain As New Team Manager

VALENCIA, 13th January 2010 The Chevrolet WTCC team successfully completed all the work scheduled for the two-day testing session held on Monday and Tuesday on the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia. Despite Spain being also affected by the wave of bad weather that has hit the whole continent, conditions were excellent for testing activity on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Yvan Muller and Rob Huff carried an intense program of work, aimed at testing different balance solutions and optimizing set-ups.

Yvan Muller, the new recruit of the Chevrolet WTCC squad for 2010, proved he is already perfectly integrated in his new team and completely at ease with the Cruze, despite having discovered the car only very recently.

The Valencia test also marked the debut on track of Graham Watson, who joined RML last week as the new Team Manager of the Chevrolet WTCC programme, succeeding Mark Busfield in this role. Watson, 42, is new to WTCC racing but brings to the Chevrolet team his long experience in motorsports at the highest level, having served in Formula 1 for many years, in teams such as Benetton and BAR.

The Cruzes will be testing again next week, on 20-21 January, in the Algarve, this time with Alain Menu and Yvan Muller sharing driving duties, before undergoing final preparation ahead of the 2010 WTCC opening event in Curitiba (6-7 March) and being sea-shipped to Brazil at end of this month.

* QUOTES

Yvan Muller: "It was a very useful session for me, as I familiarize with the Cruze and start working seriously with the engineers and the mechanics. I must say I felt extremely comfortable with the engineers and the mechanics, and I am very pleased to be again in an Anglo-Saxon environment. This is a highly professional team and a group of really nice people and I like a lot their calm and methodic approach to things. The Cruze seems to be an excellent base, although I am just starting to explore its limits, and I am excited at the prospect of bringing my contribution to the team's efforts. It is through team work that we will be able to bring the ladder up and reach the ambitious targets we have".

Rob Huff: "I am very pleased with the behavior of the Cruze in this first test session of 2010. The car feels good and it actually was quicker than during the Valencia race weekend last year, although this doesn't necessarily mean a lot as the engine works much better in the cooler conditions we have at this time of the year. We are working well with Yvan and I am pleased to see we had similar feedback and comments on the car. I am sure we will do a great job together throughout the year". ./.. Graham Watson: "I am very happy to join Chevrolet, RML and such a competitive and fast- growing championship as the WTCC, after having spent many years in Formula 1. I am just starting in my new role as Team Manager and clearly, everything is pretty new to me! This test session was very useful to me to see the car on track for the first time, and to get to know all the team members in a real-life set-up. This is a new, exciting challenge for me and I look forward to the 2010 season."

Ron Hartvelt: "The test went well, although the conditions were not ideal. It snowed Sunday evening, so it took a while on Monday morning for the track to dry up and the surface temperature stayed quite low throughout the two days. But at least we got almost two full days of dry weather, something we couldn't have found anywhere else in Europe this week! We are progressing well with the development of the Cruze, the reliability of the car and the different solutions we have tested. I hope we can advance a little bit further next week in the Algarve and then we will be able to sign-off the cars for Curitiba. You always would want more time, especially which such a short gap in-between seasons, but we are ready and confident we have been working in the right direction".

-source: chevy eu