Portugese WTCC event presented

The 2007 FIA WTCC Race of Portugal was presented Tuesday in Porto. During an official ceremony at Palácio do Freixo, speeches were delivered by Laurentino Dias, Secretary of State for Youth and Sport, Rui Rio, President of Porto’s Muncipal Chamber, and Jacques Behar, President of KSO and Eurosport Events.

“I’m pleased to announce that we have signed a three-year agreement to run the championship in Portugal,” Jacques Behar said. “And for this I have to thank the Federação Portuguesa de Automobilismo e Karting and its President Luis Pinto de Freitas, with whom we have immediately found an excellent cooperation. But I also wish to thank ‘Talento’ and the Municipal Chamber of Porto who will promote and support next year’s event.”

The FIA WTCC meeting, that will take place on July 7th and 8th, will be the first World Championship racing event in Portugal since 1996, when the last Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix was held in Estoril. And it will also bring motor sport back to the city of Porto, nearly half-a-century after Formula One raced on the Boavista street circuit in 1958 and 1960.