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The Cruzes Aim At Increasing Championship Gap In Mythical Monza
Major Technical innovation in the pit lane, as the team will test for the first time a new overhead pit boom device
2011-05-06
ZURICH/ WELLINBOROUGH – For the third round of the season, the WTCC is heading to , one of the cradles of motorsports and touring car racing, the legendary Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. The Chevrolet team will arrive in as leaders in both championships and are determined to further increase their advantage.
All three Cruzes will have a new engine, as allowed by the WTCC technical regulations for this third event of the 1.6 turbo petrol engine era.
For once, the biggest novelty will be in the pits and in the pit lane, as Chevrolet will bring a new, RML designed, overhead boom system, the purpose of which is two fold. It will allow Chevrolet to have a far greater brand exposure in the pit lane, when deployed outside of the garage. However, the main function of the device will be technical, providing power supply for the tire blankets and allowing drivers to have a TV monitor to watch the TV or timekeeping feed while sitting in the car. The device will also be helpful to download engine and chassis data without the engineers having to leave their data desk in the garage, and will also carry a traffic light system enabling an orderly release of cars out to the track. The feature will be tested in race conditions at for the first time and will be further developed by RML in the course of the season.
- QUOTES
Rob Huff: “I always enjoy going to , which is a completely different type of track from what we have seen so far this season. It is clearly a track of power rather than handling, where some factors like slipstreaming are very important. I think we can do well there and I think we will not have the tire problems occurred last year, when both Tarquini and I suffered punctures in the last lap of Race 1. I will definitely work on a more conservative race set-up to avoid any risk. Obviously, it is nice to be leading the championship but it is too early to think about that. The objective remains to score as many heavy points as possible.”
Alain Menu: “I like , like almost all drivers, by the way! The key point this year will be to see how the compensation weight will affect us, but Monza is probably the circuit where extra weight has least influence, as it is a very flowing track, where, except for the first chicane, you can keep the pace and the speed. We’ll have a clearer idea about where we stand after qualifying and my objective is to go for heavy points. If I am in a position to fight for a win, I will do so, but the first priority will be scoring a maximum of points.”
Yvan Muller: “Someone told me the other day that I have always won in in the last four years. I hope this will be the case this year as well! The start of the season hasn’t been very successful for me, because of some small mistakes and lack of luck. It’s time to revert the trend and I hope will be the real kick-off of my season. We should be competitive there, but our competitors also have always been fast at and we will have to see how the compensation weight plays. In Zolder, the oil radiator on my car got damaged on the kerbs and although the team has worked to give the radiators some extra protection, I will be extremely cautious in ’s chicanes.”
Stuart Cowie (Race Operations Manager) “The cars are being shaken down as we speak at Sywell, by all three drivers. There aren’t any major modifications to the cars after Zolder, it has been mainly servicing, but all three cars will have a new engine. The new rules allow an engine change for this third event of the season, and we have done it, not because we had any reliability issues, but because this will allow us to take apart the engines that have started the season and inspect them thoroughly. We are very satisfied with how the new engine is performing so far, but our colleagues in the engine department, back at RML, are certainly very eager to have a closer look at them and learn something!”
Eric Nève: “It is always a pleasure to go to , one of true legendary circuits in the world, and feel the warmth of Italian fans. This year too, we will have guests coming from different countries. This is also the race closest to our European headquarters in and we expect a good delegation of colleagues and executives. Our objective is to reward all our supporters with good racing and some very nice results. The other new item will be a promotional truck in the main paddock which will help us presenting our major new cars to the public. will serve as main rehearsal before where we will use the truck as well”
RACE SCHEDULE (Local time = CET)
Saturday, 14th May 2011
09:00-09:30 Free Practice 1
10:45-11:15 Free Practice 2
14:00-14:20 Qualifying 1
14:25-14:35 Qualifying 2
Sunday, 15th May 2011
09:00-09:15 Warm up
13:05-13:30 Race 1 (9 laps = 51,930 kms) (Rolling start)
15:15-15:40 Race 2 (9 laps = 51,930 kms) (Standing start)
WTCC ON TV
In , qualifying, warm up and the races are be broadcasted live on Eurosport International.
DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 4 OF 24
1. R Huff (Chevrolet), 70 points; 2. A Menu (Chevrolet), 69; 3. G Tarquini (SEAT), 51; 4. Y Muller (Chevrolet), 48; 5. T Monteiro (SEAT), 31; ... 7. Bueno (Chevrolet), 25 ; etc
MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RACE 4 OF 24
1. Chevrolet, 156 points; 2. SEAT, 107; 3. BMW, 85; 4. Volvo, 28.
CHEVROLET RACING AROUND THE GLOBE
In the , the Chevy boys swept the floor at , with Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt jr and Kevin Harvick taking the first five positions in an exciting photo-finish within 64 thousands of a second! In the overall standings, Johnson is currently second and Earnhardt fourth. More information can be found on www.nascar.com.
In the , next round of the BTCC will take place at on 4-5 June. Jason Plato, who won Race 3 at Thruxton with the RML-prepared Chevrolet Cruze, is currently 6th in the overall standings, while alex McDowall is 8th and Paul O’Neill 9th. More info can be found on www.btcc.net.
In Argentina, Chevrolet Elaion drivers Christian Ledesma and Agustín Canapino are 14th and 17th, respectively, in the standings of the TC2000, ahead of the next round in on 21-22 May. More info on www.tc2000.com.ar
In Scandinavia, Ryckard Rydell took a fourth and a fifth in the opening round of the STCC in . The Chevrolet Motorsport lies fifth in the standings. Next race is this coming weekend in Ring Knutstorp, . More info can be found on www.stcc.se.
