WTCC

Series newsletter 2008-03-14

BALLAST FOR TEN IN MEXICO The new FIA WTCC success ballast system will come into force from the second race meeting of the season, which will take place in Puebla, Mexico, on April 6th. Ten drivers will carry extra weight on board their cars, with ...

Published: Mar 15, 2008, 1:46 PM

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BALLAST FOR TEN IN MEXICO

The new FIA WTCC success ballast system will come into force from the second race meeting of the season, which will take place in Puebla, Mexico, on April 6th. Ten drivers will carry extra weight on board their cars, with SEAT Sport team-mates Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini both on +44 kg. They are joint leaders in the championship after they took one victory apiece in Curitiba. This resulted in 30 kg of ballast for being the highest scorers during the Brazilian weekend, plus 14 kg due to the championship points collected.

BMW men Andy Priaulx and Jorg Muller - who are currently third and fourth in the Drivers' championship - will be given 33 and 26 extra kilos respectively, with Rickard Rydell on +20 and Felix Porteiro on +14. Three other drivers will carry a minimum amount of success ballast according to the championship points they have scored: Augusto Farfus +3, Tom Coronel 2, Jordi Gene and Independent's Trophy leader Olivier Tielemans +1.


44 kg       Y. Muller, G. Tarquini

33 kg       A. Priaulx

26            J. Muller

20            R. Rydell

14            F. Porteiro

3             A. Farfus

2             T. Coronel

1             J. Gene, O. Tielemans

BACK TO MEXICO IN THREE WEEKS

The FIA WTCC stays in America for its second race meeting. After the season started two weeks ago in Curitiba, Brazil, the championship is now heading to Mexico's Autodromo Miguel E. Abed, where rounds 3 and 4 will take place on April 6th.

This is the third time the 3.2 km circuit located some 30km East of Puebla, hosts the championship, which comes back to Mexico after a one-year break.

The WTCC visited Puebla for the first time in July 2005. In front of a huge crowd of 71,000, Fabrizio Giovanardi's Alfa Romeo won the first race, while SEAT's Peter Terting claimed his first and only WTCC victory in the second.

The following year's event - on a completely revised track - was dominated by the Alfa Romeo men. SEAT's Rickard Rydell set pole position, but was dropped ten positions on the grid due to an engine change; this left pole position to Salvatore Tavano, who won the first race from team-mate Augusto Farfus. Later the young Brazilian and third Alfa driver Gianni Morbidelli finished 1-2 in the second race. However, the new track record was set by Ryan Sharp in the JAS Motorsport Honda Civic with a time of 1:44.994, and the Scotsman finished a brilliant third in Race 1.

The attendance of Mexican fans was even larger than in 2005, with 76,000 spectators gathering at the track during the weekend.

-credit: fiawtcc.com

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