Cruze Seeks in Porto to Confirm its Excellent Record on Street Circuits as WTCC Celebrates Milestone of 100th Race
One of the Cruzes To Sport 2009 ‘Young? Creative? Chevrolet!’ 2009 Winning Livery
The Circuito da Boavista in Porto, which hosts the WTCC’s Race of Portugal every other year, will be an even more special rendez-vous in 2009, as the race 2 of the event holds the honor of being the 100th race of the WTCC. This first important milestone in the history of the world’s main touring car championship will be duly celebrated by the WTCC community and, obviously, also by Chevrolet, who can pride itself to have been present in the championship since its creation with the same team and the same drivers!
Chevrolet, which obtained in Porto its first triple victory in 2007, is determined to mark the occasion by further enriching the Cruze’s excellent record on urban tracks. This will also be the event selected to sport the special livery having won this year’s ‘Young? Creative? Chevrolet!’ pan-European contest. Like in 2008, the brief in the visual arts discipline of Chevrolet’s competition for art school students was the design of a unique livery for the Cruze, to be sported one-off by one of Chevrolet’s WTCC cars. This time, the winning project comes from Belgium and has been conceived by Britt Raes, from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent. Her work will grace the Cruze of Alain Menu.
QUOTES
Rob Huff: “Porto is a place close to everybody’s heart at Chevrolet, because of our first triple victory in 2007, and we are all excited to be back there. Given what shown by the Cruze on street circuits this year, I think we should perform very well and, provided we qualify well, we can aim at very good results”. .
Nicola Larini: “We go to Porto with confidence, knowing that we can be competitive there and that we can achieve some good results. Still, we do not control all variables and we will have to be extremely focused since the first minute of testing. I personally like the circuit, as it is fast and technical, and it is one of the few street circuits offering some good overtaking points”.
Alain Menu: “I am very happy to have again the car with the ‘Young? Creative? Chevrolet!’, I really like this project and I hope this special livery will bring me luck! I think we have a very good chance to do well in Porto, although it will be a new circuit for the Cruze. I just hope it will suit the Cruze as much as it suited the Lacetti in 2007. The Porto track is like a compendium of everything: fast and blind corners, long straights and chicanes. I definitely like it!”. ./..
Mark Busfield: “There was not much time to make changes or testing between Brno and Porto, but we will have some small up-dates, and the cars have been completely repaired and rebuilt after the accident at first corner in Brno. We will be doing our usual shake-down this Friday at MIRA testing facility. The Cruze should be very competitive in Porto and we will try to make the best use of the extra testing session on Friday, organized to allow familiarization with the re-designed chicane on the main straight, and the qualifying sessions, which are extended to 30+15 minutes as always when on street circuits. It would be, of course, great to repeat the 2007success!”
Eric Nève: “This will certainly be a very special event, as the WTCC celebrates the 100th WTCC race. This means it is also Chevrolet’s 100th race, with the same team and the same drivers, and I think we can look with pride to both our achievements in these four and a half years the consistency of our program. At Porto, we will have one of the Cruzes painted with the special livery having won the 2009 ‘Young? Creative? Chevrolet!’. This year’s design is really fresh and striking and fits perfectly well with the image of the new Cruze. We are delighted to be involved in this initiative for a second year in a row, and to have the designer of the winning project, Britt Raes, as our guest during the week-end”.
PORTO RACE SCHEDULE (CET -1)
Friday, 3rd July 2009
15.00-15.30 (14:00-14.30) Free Practice 1
Saturday, 4th July 2009
09.00-09.30 (08.00-08.30) Free Practice 1
12.00-12.30 (11.00-11.30) Free Practice 2
15.00-15.50 (14.00-14.50) Qualifying (Q1 30’ + Q2 15’)
Sunday, 5th July 2009
09.00-09.15 (08.00-08.15) Warm up
11.35-12.00 (10.35-12.00) Race 1 (11 laps = 51.920 kms)
(Rolling start)
16.50-17.15 (15.50-16.15) Race 2 (11 laps = 51.920 kms) (Standing start)
PORTO WTCC ON TV
In Europe, qualifying, warm up and the races are be broadcasted live on Eurosport International.
WTCC DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 12 OF 24 :
1. Y Muller (SEAT), 66 points; 2. G Tarquini (SEAT), 56; 3. A Frafus (BMW), 54; 4. J Müller (BMW), 41; 5. R Rydell (SEAT), 38; ... 7. R Huff (Chevrolet), 32; ...12. N Larini (Chevrolet), 14; 13. A Menu (Chevrolet), 14; etc.
WTCC CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 12 OF 24:
1. SEAT, 161 points; 2. BMW, 153; 3. Chevrolet, 103; 4. Lada, 45.
CHEVROLET RACING AROUND THE GLOBE
In the US, Chevrolet drivers Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon took a double win in Michigan, while Tony Stewart was second in the Sonoma round, strengthening his lead in the overall standings. with Jeff Gordon second and Jimmie Johnson third, three Chevy drivers are now in the provisional top three of the championship. More information can be found on www.nascar.com.
In the UK, Jason Plato, with two 3rd places and one 5th, was the best of the Chevrolet drivers in the recent BTCC event in Croft. He is still fourth in the overall standings, with Mat Jackson eleventh and Harry Vaulkhard twelth. More information on www.btcc.net.
In Argentina, Chevrolet Elaion driver Guillermo Ortelli, paired with Alain Menu, finished eighth in the first of the three endurance events included in this year’s schedule of the TC2000, held in Termas de Río Hondo. In the overall standings, Ortelli is currently sixth and Christian Ledesma is 25th. More information can be found on www.tc2000.com.ar.
In Denmark, Chevrolet Motorsport Danmark is currently leading the Team standings in the Danish Touring Car Championship (DTCC), ahead of next round in Bilen Julinobet next week-end. More information on www.dtc-net.dk.
In Sweden, the Lacetti of Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden driven by Thomas Schie is 11th in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC), ahead of the next round in Knutstorp this week-end. More info on www.stcc.se.
In Germany, Maurer Motorsport’s Russian driver Andrei Romanov is fourth in the championship, and the other Lacetti driver, Michael Ruh, ninth, ahead of the next round in Lausitzring on 4-5 July. More info on www.adac-procar.de.