Photo: WTCC Media

SUNRED revert back to their own engine

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SUNRED Engineering will switch from the TDI engine to their own 1.6 litre turbo engine this weekend at Valencia, which means there will be three different configurations of the SEAT León on the grid.

At Monza, the team ran one of SEAT Sport’s new 1.6 litre turbocharged engines for Pepe Oriola, whilst the team’s other drivers Tiago Monteiro and Andrea Barlesi ran with the older 2.0 litre TDI engine at the meeting.

This weekend, Monteiro and Barlesi will switch to SUNRED’s own unit, which was developed by renowned VAG partners Lehmann Engineering and is officially homologated as a SUNRED, not SEAT engine. The Spanish independent team ran these engines last year, phasing them in from the Hungarian round onwards to replace the venerable SEAT TDI unit for all of their six drivers in 2011.

This weekend 19-year-old Spaniard Fernando Monje will also be racing in the team’s fourth car, and will also be running the team’s SR León 1.6T along with Monteiro and Barlesi, after experiencing the TDI engine in the opening round of the FIA European Touring Car Cup three weeks ago.

The move is temporary until SEAT Sport are able to supply SUNRED with the latest engine for all of their cars.

With SUNRED reverting to their own engine, there are now three different configurations of SEAT on the grid this weekend. The latest SEAT Sport 1.6 engine will be in the four SEAT León WTCCs of Gabriele Tarquini, Darryl O’Young, Pepe Oriola and Aleksei Dudukalo.

There will also be the three SUNRED variants listed above, and Tom Boardman at Special Tuning Racing will be the only driver competing with the TDI engine as he makes his season debut one round later than planned.

Because the SUNRED drivers have changed specification within the season, they will all be given an additional 20kg of ballast, bringing the SR León 1.6T up to 1,170kg. The cars are also entered under National Homologation rules as there is no SUNRED León vehicle in existance which meets the FIA Super 2000 regulation’s official requirements.

Weight List for Valencia
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T – 1,200kg (1,160kg + 40kg success ballast)
Ford Focus S2000 TC – 1,180kg (1,150kg + 30kg penalty ballast)
SR León 1.6T – 1,170kg – (1,150kg + 20kg late entry ballast)
BMW 320 TC – 1,160kg
SEAT León WTCC – 1,150kg
SEAT León TDI – 1,150kg