WTCC heads to Austria for the first time

The FIA World Touring Car Championship will make its first appearance at the Salzburgring circuit in Austria this weekend, though the circuit is no stranger to touring car racing, having previously hosted three rounds of the European Touring Car Cup, which will also be taking place this weekend.

Austria will be the second all new round for the WTCC this season, with two new circuits to follow in September and November when the Championship heads to Sonoma in the USA, and then the Shanghai International Circuit in China.

Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller last raced at the Salzburgring in 1997, whilst three other drivers on the grid have raced at the circuit as part of the ETCC in recent years. Franz Engstler took part in 2008, whilst Proteam’s Mehdi Bennani and SUNRED Engineering’s Pepe Oriola raced there last year, with Oriola winning the second race on his way to second in the 2011 ETCC drivers’ standings.

The RML-run Chevrolet team will be relying on data from the Swedish Nika Racing team, which raced there last year with Michel Nykjaer.

SUNRED will be hopeful of a good showing with Oriola, with the 17-year-old having run strongly last year in the ETCC, finishing second in race one and defeating 2002 ETCC champion and 2007-2008 BTCC champion Fabrizio Giovanardi in the second race. SUNRED will run two cars in the WTCC this weekend, with the new SEAT engine in Oriola’s car and Tiago Monteiro expected to be taking part for the last time with the SUNRED 1.6 litre turbocharged engine. The independent Spanish team will also be busy running up to three cars in the supporting ETCC.

This weekend should also see the final appearance of the SEAT León TDI engine, with Tom Boardman’s Special Tuning Racing SEAT heading to the factory to be fitted with the new 1.6 litre WTCC engine for the following round at Portimao in Portugal.

The Salzburgring is loosely the replacement for Oschersleben in this year’s calendar, with the Eastern German circuit dropped after 10 years on the calendar with no replacement round in Germany scheduled.

At the end of the race, we will also be at the half way point in the season with a heavily contracted first part of the calendar, with the season end still almost six months away at the end of November in Macau.

Only a Chevrolet driver can leave Salzburg with the lead of the Championship, but the standings are already tight between the team’s three drivers. At this point last year Chevrolet’s Rob Huff lead the championship by 25 points over Yvan Muller. This time Muller leads by just 23 points over Alain Menu, with Huff just seven points further behind, so it’s all to play for between the Chevrolet drivers, but as usual they’ll need to watch out for SEAT’s Gabriele Tarquini, ROAL BMW’s Tom Coronel and a reinvigorated Norbert Michelisz, who will be fired up after victory last time out in front of his home crowd in Hungary.

FIA World Touring Car Championship – Race Of Austria Entry List

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car
1 – Yvan Muller – FRA – Chevrolet – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
2 – Robert Huff – GBR – Chevrolet – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
3 – Gabriele Tarquini – ITA – Lukoil Racing Team – SEAT León WTCC
4 – Aleksei Dudukalo – RUS – Lukoil Racing Team – SEAT León WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – BMW 320 TC
6 – Franz Engstler – GER – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320 TC
7 – Charles Kaki Ng – HKG – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320 TC
8 – Alain Menu – SUI – Chevrolet – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
11 – Alex MacDowall – GBR – Bamboo Engineering – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
12 – Pasquale Di Sabatino – ITA – Bamboo Engineering – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
14 – James Nash – GBR – Arena International Motorsport – Ford Focus S2000 TC
15 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – BMW 320 TC
16 – Alberto Cerqui – ITA – ROAL Motorsport – BMW 320 TC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – SUNRED Engineering – SR León 1.6T
20 – Darryl O’Young – HKG – Special Tuning Racing – SEAT León WTCC
22 – Tom Boardman – GBR – Special Tuning Racing – SEAT León TDI
23 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Arena International Motorsport – Ford Focus S2000 TC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Proteam Racing – BMW 320 TC
26 – Stefano D’Aste – ITA – Wiechers-Sport – BMW 320 TC
27 – Gábor Wéber – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – BMW 320 TC
74 – Pepe Oriola – SPN – SUNRED Engineering – SEAT León WTCC

Race Of Austria Weekend Timetable

Saturday 19th May
09:00 – 09:30 – Free Practice 1
11:45 – 12:15 – Free Practice 2
15:45 – 16:15 – Qualifying

Sunday 20th May
08:45 – 09:00 – Warm Up
13:20 – Race One (12 Laps)
14:35 – Race Two (12 Laps)

Race Of Austria Compensation Weights

Car – Weight – Breakdown
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T – 1,200kg – 1,160 +40kg success ballast
BMW 320 TC – 1,200kg – 1,160 + 40kg success ballast
SEAT León WTCC – 1,190kg – 1,150 + 40kg success ballast
SR León 1.6T – 1,150kg – 1,150 – 20kg penalty ballast + 20kg national ballast
Ford Focus S2000 TC – 1,140kg – 1,150 -10kg success ballast
SEAT León TDI – 1,130kg – 1,150 -20kg success ballast