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The 2011 Cruze Continues Testing In England As Huff, Menu And Muller Undertake Other Commitments In China And Australia
MacDowall in charge of today’s test in Snetterton, while ‘globe-trotting’ WTCC drivers undertake racing and marketing commitments in three different continents
2010-10-21
ZURICH – WELLINGBOROUGH, 21st October 2010 – Despite the heavy schedule of this final part of the season, the development and testing program of the 2011 Cruze goes ahead: today, the new Cruze equipped with the 1.6 turbo petrol engine is testing at Snetterton. At the wheel is RML’s BTCC driver Alex MacDowall. The young Brit has been called in for the occasion as the three Chevrolet WTCC drivers are busy in Australia and China with other commitments.
It may be because Chevrolet is a global brand, but one thing is sure: the three Chevrolet WTCC drivers are real globetrotters. From now up to the end of the season in the second half of November, Alain Menu, Yvan Muller and Rob Huff will not see much of their homes but ... they’ll collect quite a few air miles instead! All three will of course be in Japan and Macau for the last two decisive events of the WTCC, but in-between, they have a number of commitments around the world.
Early this week, Alain and Yvan flew to Australia where they will participate this coming week-end (23-24 October) in the ArmorAll Gold Coast 600, one of the stellar events of the V-8 Supercar, the highly competitive and popular Australian touring car series. This special event, taking place in the street circuit of Surfers’ Paradise, attracts no less than 19 international stars from the WTCC (Priaulx and Monteiro are also present) and the Indycar (Castroneves, Franchitti) as well as former F.1 drivers (Villeneuve, Bourdais, Salo, Morbidelli) and Australia’s international driving élite (D.Brabham, Dixon, Power, Briscoe). Each one of them will be paired with regular V-8 Supercar drivers, and Alain and Yvan will defend the colours of the Australian brand of the GM family, Holden, driving powerful Commodores VE.
After that, Alain and Yvan will head to Okayama, Japan for the WTCC event the following week-end and from there they will go to Argentina (straight through the Pacific route for Yvan, with a west-bound journey for Alain, who will have a 2-day stop at home in Switzerland) to race in the most prestigious event of the TC 2000, the 200 km of Buenos Aires (6-7 November), as co-drivers in the two Vectras of the Chevrolet Elaion team.
Two weeks from then, they will be racing in the conclusive round of the WTCC in Macau, one of the most traditional events in touring car racing.
By comparison, Rob Huff’s schedule may seem lighter. The Briton is currently in China, invited by GM China as a special coach for media representatives attending the launch of the Chevrolet Cruze 1.6 turbo. From there, he will fly to Okayama and re-join Alain and Yvan.
· QUOTES
Alain Menu: “As we speak, all international drivers invited to the Surfers’ Paradise race are in a nearby track, Queensland Raceway, for a free practice session. I must say the V-8 Holden, with its almost 600 hp and no traction control, is a very impressive machine, especially on a wet track like today. It’s not going to be easy to stay on the track this week-end. But I enjoyed the experience a lot,, this is a big thing in Australia and there is a lot of excitement around it down here! I am off to a long trip, I’ll be coming home after Japan and Argentina, but for sure my family is not going to see much of me for six weeks. It’s a lot of travel, I know, but I generally cope well with long flights and jet-lag, and I must say that since I arrived to Australia, the quality of my sleep has improved a lot”.
Yvan Muller: “I enjoyed racing in the WRC rally a lot in Alsace a couple of weeks ago and I’m now off for some new, different racing experiences! I have never raced in Surfers’ Paradise, I know it is a very challenging circuit, so I am really looking forward to it. On the contrary, I have already raced in the V-8 Supercar, which is a tremendous series, I even won a race in Sandown back in 2005, and I am sure it will all come back after a few laps! I still don’t know if I will pass through home in Europe before the end of the WTCC. My original plan is not to, also because I want to arrive early in Macau and get perfectly adjusted time-wise, which is a key factor, especially when you are fighting for the championship”.
Rob Huff: “At this very moment, I am in a relatively remote region of Southern China, a beautiful lake district near Kunming. It took me 30 hours and 3 flights to get here from Britain, but it is really a wonderful and peaceful place, not far from Shangri-la! It is here that the Cruze 1.6 turbo will be presented to Chinese media. The program foresees a number of drives and some special activities in a proving ground, such as slalom and stop-and-go. My role is to prepare these activities, set the objectives and coach the journalists that will participate. We just finished designing and testing the slalom track and I am sure we are going to have a lot of fun!”.
Eric Nève: “For sure, our three drivers are having a busy schedule in this end-of-season. My personal view regarding extra-championship commitments is that they are good to keep the drivers active and fit, especially when you have long breaks like we have now in the WTCC between the end of the European season and the Asian rounds. Drivers want to drive, that’s what they enjoy and what keeps them happy and in good shape, and it is always good for them to experience different cars, tracks and racing cultures. It is something that enriches them as professional drivers, so our policy is to allow this kind of extra activities, as long as they are not competing against other officially-entered GM brands”.
