Photo: WTCC Media

Okayama all set for WTCC swansong

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The WTCC heads to Okayama for the last time this weekend before moving to Suzuka in 2011, and the track infamous for rain looks set to deliver a similar spectacle for the penultimate round of 2010.

Chevrolet driver Yvan Muller goes to Japan with a 25 point lead over BMW’s Andy Priaulx. The pair were both racing together last weekend at Australia’s Gold Coast in the V8 Supercars championship, where Priaulx left as the top international competitor. But the results from that race don’t count in the WTCC of course, and Priaulx will be counting on a strong result at Okayama to catch-up to Yvan.

“We have to maintain the momentum and ensure we get some great results from Japan to carry the chase for the championship to Macau,” said Priaulx.

“I really enjoy the challenge of Okayama, and just hope we have better weather than last year – not just for us, but for the thousands of dedicated local fans.”

SR-Sport’s Gabriele Tarquini is just four points behind Priaulx, and the 2009 champion remains a strong contender for the title. The TDI powered SEAT won both races back in 2008 on the series first visit to Okayama, one of which was also the first victory for team-mate Tom Coronel in the championship.

A season record 27 cars are entered for this weekend’s race, with a number of local drivers taking part in additonal cars fielded by the independent teams.

Yukinori Taniguchi returns in the second bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti, whilst Wiechers-Sport, Proteam Motorsport and Liqui-Moly Team Engstler are fielding additional cars for Masataka Yanagida, Nobuteru Taniguchi & Yoshihiro Ito respectively.

Taipei driver Kevin Chen will also race for Proteam, with the independent Italian squad entering four cars for the event in total. Macau driver Henry Ho will field a BMW 320si for his Sports & You team, with both Chen and Ho also racing at the season finale in Macau next month.

STCC team Polestar will make their second appearance of the season with their locally homologated Volvo C30 for Robert Dahlgren, having already confirmed a one car presence in the series next year when the Volvo will become eligible for championship points.

West Surrey Racing will make their fourth appearance of the season with backing from AVIVA-COFCO. 2009 BTCC champion Colin Turkington will race for the team, but as before will not be eligible for points in the independents category after a ruling at Brno.

The final change is that Jordi Gené will miss his first ever round of the WTCC, as the Spaniard steps aside for up and coming French driver Michaël Rossi for Japan. Rossi will drive the TDI-powered SEAT León for the first time this weekend – having driven for SUNRED in the European Touring Car Cup previously in the petrol León.

WTCC Japan Entrylist

1 – Gabriele Tarquini – SR-Sport – SEAT Leon TDI
2 – Tom Coronel – SR-Sport – SEAT Leon TDI
3 – Tiago Monteiro – SR-Sport – SEAT Leon TDI
5 – Norbert Michelisz – SR-Sport – SEAT Leon TDI
6 – Yvan Muller – Chevrolet – Chevrolet Cruze LT
7 – Robert Huff – Chevrolet – Chevrolet Cruze LT
8 – Alain Menu – Chevrolet – Chevrolet Cruze LT
10 – Augusto Farfus – BMW Team RBM – BMW 320si
11 – Andy Priaulx – BMW Team RBM – BMW 320si
15 – Franz Engstler – Liqui-Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320si
16 – Andrei Romanov – Liqui-Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320si
17 – Michel Nykjaer – SUNRED Engineering – SEAT Leon TDI
18 – Fredy Barth – SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED – SEAT Leon TDI
20 – Darryl O’Young – bamboo-engineering – Chevrolet Lacetti
21 – Medhi Bennani – Wiechers-Sport – BMW 320si
24 – Kristian Poulsen – Poulsen Motorsport – BMW 320si
25 – Sergio Hernandez – Proteam Motorsport – BMW 320si
26 – Stefano D’Aste – Proteam Motorsport – BMW 320si
29 – Colin Turkington – Team AVIVA-COFCO – BMW 320si
41 – Robert Dahlgren – Volvo Olsbergs Green Racing – Volvo C30
43 – Nobuteru Taniguchi – Proteam Motorsport – BMW 320si
44 – Yoshihiro Ito – Liqui-Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320si
45 – Kevin Chen – Proteam Motorsport – BMW 320si
46 – Masataka Yanagida – Wiechers-Sport – BMW 320si
51 – Henry Ho – Sports & You – BMW 320si
72 – Yukinori Taniguchi – bamboo-engineering – Chevrolet Lacetti
73 – Michaël Rossi – SR-Sport – SEAT Leon TDI