Second time at Suzuka for the WTCC

The FIA World Touring Car Championship returns to Suzuka for the second consecutive year, running at the short version of the circuit. The title fight is tighter than ever, but all eyes will be on Honda’s official WTCC debut with Tiago Monteiro.

The Japanese marque has officially entered the WTCC for the first time, after a number of independent programmes by JAS Motorsport and N.Technology have already taken place in the Championship, both with the Accord. Now, the new ninth generation European Honda Civic WTCC will make its debut with Portuguese ex-Formula 1 driver Tiago Monteiro behind the wheel this weekend.

“JAS and Honda have done an excellent job over the last six months,” said Monteiro. “The whole team has worked very hard so that we can participate in these two Japanese races, Honda’s home ground. The final shakedown took place at Sugo and everything went well. The car is very reliable in regards to performance, but we were the only ones on the track so it is difficult to get an idea of its actual speed compared to the others.”

“We must not lose sight of our goal for this first appointment. We need to gain experience and test several technical solutions that could be beneficial for the 2013 season. We need real information. Getting a good result is not our goal, but in our true spirit, the top 10 should be a reachable target.”

In the Championship battle, Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller and Rob Huff are tied for the lead after the last round at Sonoma, California. Mathematically speaking, Alain Menu, Gabriele Tarquini, Tom Coronel and Norbert Michelisz can still in theory become the champion, but realistically speaking it’s an all Chevrolet affair, though after a power steering problem in the USA, Alain Menu will desperately need some bad luck to strike his two team-mates to start closing in the 48 point gap.

“I really look forward to racing at Suzuka again,” said Menu. “I like Japan and was particularly pleased with the Suzuka short circuit last year. I really enjoyed driving there and things went well for me, as I took pole, won Race 1 and claimed fourth spot in Race 2. That’s the kind of results I need to stay in the title race, although it’s going to be tough after the potential points lost at Sonoma. But it’s not over until the end.”

Joint championship leader Yvan Muller, who inbetween the last race and this weekend’s at Suzuka took part in his home rally for Prodrive, finishing a valiant 14th in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC added:
“I’m approaching the last three rounds with the same determination and the same objective I
had in the first nine; to do the best possible, avoid mistakes and remain completely focused.”

“The short Suzuka track may not the most exciting track in the calendar, but that matters little at this point. I have a job to do there and hope to retake the lead of the championship.”

Chevrolet are also set to win the manufacturers’ title in Japan, after coming close to sealing their third consecutive manufacturers’ title at home last month. Though there are many scenarios, Chevrolet are likely to be able to confirm the title on Saturday in qualifying, just needing to score one point more than BMW to put the title officially out of reach.

A few changes and additions to the line-up this weekend. Darryl O’Young returns to Bamboo Engineering, driving the Chevrolet Cruze he last drove at Macau last year. His seat at Special Tuning Racing is taken by Réne Münnich, the GT Team Principal and driver in his own right, who’s evaluating bringing his team into the WTCC next year with SEAT.

There’s also two Japanese drivers in the field, with Hiroki Yoshimoto taking over the SR León formerly driven by Tiago Monteiro at SUNRED, whilst Engstler will run a third car for Masaki Kano, though it will be a normally aspirated BMW 320si, the only normally aspirated car on the grid so Kano will have a very strong handicap compared to the rest of the field, all with turbocharged cars.

FIA World Touring Car Championship – Race Of Japan Entry List

No – Driver – 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 – Zengõ 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
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 – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic Super 2000 TC
20 – Darryl O’Young* – HKG – Bamboo Engineering – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
22 – Tom Boardman* – GBR – Special Tuning Racing – SEAT León WTCC
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
38 – Réne Münnich* – GER – Special Tuning Racing – SEAT León WTCC
74 – Pepe Oriola* – SPN – SUNRED Engineering – SEAT León WTCC
75 – Masaki Kano* – JPN – Liqui Moly Team Engstler – BMW 320si
80 – Hiroki Yoshimoto* – JPN – SUNRED Engineering – SR León 1.6T
88 – Fernando Monje* – SPN – SUNRED Engineering – SEAT León WTCC

* Eligible for Yokohama Independents’ Trophy

WTCC Race of Japan Timetable

Friday 19th October
13:30 – 14:00 – Testing (FP0)

Saturday 20th October
09:30 – 10:00 – Free Practice 1
12:00 – 12:30 – Free Practice 2
15:30 – 16:05 – Qualifying

Sunday 21st October
08:50 – 09:05 – Warm Up
14:35 – Race One (26 Laps)
15:50 – Race Two (26 Laps)

* All times JST (BST -8 Hours, CET -7 Hours)

Race Of Japan Compensation Weights

Car – Weight – Breakdown
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T – 1,200kg – 1,160 +40kg success ballast
SEAT León WTCC – 1,180kg – 1,150 + 30kg success ballast
BMW 320 TC – 1,150kg – 1,160 -10kg success ballast
Honda Civic Super 2000 TC – 1,150kg – 1,150 base weight
SR León 1.6T – 1,150kg – 1,150 – 20kg penalty ballast + 20kg national ballast
Ford Focus S2000 TC – 1,130kg – 1,150 -20kg success ballast