Series newsletter 2009-08-21

WTCC WILL ROCK AT OSCHERSLEBEN

A rock concert will take place at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben on the same weekend as the FIA World Touring Car Championship, on September 5th and 6th.

Popular German singers Sarah Connor, Reamonn, Milow, Hermes House Band and Eisblume will perform in the VR-StarArena concert on Saturday evening from 18.00 hours, next to the track.

The tickets for the concert are not for sale. Fans may obtain them for free at the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken offices or win them on line at vr-stararena.de/templates/register/form.php.

Those who win tickets for the StarArena will benefit from a discount to buy tickets for the WTCC event: 12--(instead of 20) for the Saturday and 20--(instead of 35) for the weekend.

WTCC ticket holders will be also allowed to attend the concert.

Sarah Connor: one of the artists to perform in the Oschersleben concert

INTERVIEW WITH VOLVO MOTORSPORT BOSS

Volvo took part in the latest WTCC event at Brands Hatch with two C30

cars coming from the Swedish Touring Car Championship. Volvo Motorsport director Derek Crabb has kindly agreed to answer a few questions about that participation.

Speaking about marketing and PR, are you happy with Volvo participation in the WTCC event?

"Yes very happy. We had 60 happy and excited VIP guests at the track for a Volvo after market event. We also used the WTCC to release Polestar Performance software upgrades in the UK market. Polestar Performance chip-tuning is developed by our racing team. It is approved by Volvo and can be installed at our dealers. Polestar Performance is something we hope we can develop through our Motorsport participation to provide excitement to customers and value to Volvo."

What is the stock you take of the sporting results achieved by Dahlgren and Rustad?

"Rustad was involved in crashes in both races so it's difficult to make a sensible analysis of his speed and performance. Dahlgren performed at a level we expected with the 40 kg of extra weight he had for the weekend."

In terms of performance, how do you rate the Volvo C30 compared to the cars competing in WTCC?

"One event won't tell us the whole story. Our C30 is currently optimized for the short circuits of the Swedish championship and on top of that we had 40 kg of compensation weight on both cars."

In the latest three years Volvo made one-off appearances in WTCC. Were these just an end in themselves? Or do you aim to expand motorsport activities beyond the STCC?

"WTCC is always an ambition. Volvo is a premium brand and WTCC is a premium championship. For us, it is a matter of being ready and finding the right timing with future regulations and our car models."

So far the Volvo C30 is racing under a national homologation. Do you plan to homologate the car with the FIA?

"We will homologate under FIA when it coincides with our motorsport plans and we will clearly homologate any car we will be using at that time."

The Volvo C30 cars of Dahlgren and Rustad during WTCC's British event

KRISTIAN POULSEN TO RACE AT HOME

This weekend WTCC independent driver Kristian Poulsen will make a comeback to the Danish Touring car Championship and team with younger brother Roland Poulsen who will make his debut in a Super 2000 car.

The Poulsen brothers will drive two BMW 320si cars in the championship's fifth race meeting at Jyllands-Ringen.

"It will be very exciting," Roland Poulsen said. "I am really looking forward to be in a rear-wheel drive car and fighting with the big boys. Kristian has assured me that I will be able to race a BMW, so I think it will go well."

Whereas Kristian has built a lot of racing experience, Roland is rather new to the sport. He made his debut in the Danish Volkswagen Polo Cup in 2007 and has since raced a Renault Clio III in the one-make series and the Danish endurance series.

MENU STOPPED BY. A PLASTIC BAG

Alain Menu and his Argentine team-mate Guillermo Ortelli were forced to retire during last Sunday's 200km of Buenos Aires.

Their Vectra car, run by the Chevrolet Elaion team, stopped on the 22nd of the 35 laps when the engine was switched off by the protection system after a plastic bag brought by the wind fouled up the timing gears.

Menu was recovering at a stunning pace after replacing Ortelli at the wheel on the 18th lap.

The race, that counted as the 7th round of the Argentine TC2000 Championship and 2nd round of the Endurance Series, was won by Norberto Fontana and Ricardo Mauricio in a Toyota Corolla.

-credit: fiawtcc