Andy Gets Ready for First FIA WTCC Races of the season in Brazil
The FIA World Touring Car Championship kicks off in Brazil this weekend and triple world champion, Andy Priaulx, is more than up for the challenge. However, the Guernsey driver has had a major change for this season as for the first time since he joined BMW in 2003 he will have a team-mate.
For 2010 Priaulx’s BMW 320si WTCC will be entered by BMW Team RBM and his team-mate is Brazilian Augusto Farfus. The two drivers know each other well as last year they were in competition with Priaulx driving for BMW Team UK, which was run by RBM, and Farfus BMW Team Germany. The new line-up is the outcome of BMW deciding to enter just the one team for this season. This is a decision seen by Priaulx as positive. “Having Augusto in the team has already made a difference and I feel we have moved the car on considerably in winter testing. When you have a team-mate you have a reference for any work you are doing, and I have never had this before. Augusto is also very quick so I know we shall be pushing each other,” he said.
SEAT has also made changes this year with the works team pulling out. However, Priaulx does not see this as a sign the competition will be weaker, as he explained: “At the moment there are seven diesel SEATs entered and I am certain that we shall not have life easier but harder. We still have their top drivers there with private teams, and Gabriele Tarquini will be tough to beat as he will want to successfully defend his title. Add to this Chevrolet, who have Yvan Muller joining Alain Menu and Rob Huff, and not only will it be a tough year but a fun one for the spectators to watch.”
This weekend’s first pair of races will be run on the track at Curitiba, which just happens to be where Augusto comes from and has hosted the WTCC since 2006. Priaulx’s thoughts on the 3.695 kilometre track are: “I like the track, although it is not an easy one. You have to have a flowing driving style to do well there and the track is technically very demanding. Even though you would think the weather there would be great this time of the year, last year we had some heavy rain and so there was quite a bit of damage out there. However, I love the atmosphere in Brazil and the fans are just amazing. I know they always turn out for Augusto, but hopefully this year they will be cheering me as well. We have both won a race there in the past so both plan to increase this to two each.”
Curitiba is 340 kilometres south west of Sao Paulo and the action starts there on Friday with a 30 minute test from 15.00 to 15.30. As usual there are two practice sessions on Saturday from 09.00 to 09.30 and 12.30 to 13.00. Then qualifying is from 16.00 to 16.20 with the top ten shoot out from 16.25 to 16.35. Warm up on Sunday is from 10.15 to 10.30 and the two 14 lap races start at 14.20 and 15.30. All these times are local and currently the UK is three hours behind Brazil. There is no change to the format of the races with a rolling start for race one and a standing start for race two.
The compensation weight system introduced for last year will continue, however, there is a revised points system with the winner getting 25 points instead of 10 and them being allocated down to tenth. The new points allocation is 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2,1. This will not affect the reverse grid for race two with this still applying to the top eight.
Message from Andy Priaulx on behalf of Andre Couto
“I want to bring to your attention the plight of a very brave little boy. When we race in Macau one of the quick local drivers I have got to know is Andre Couto. Andre like me has a young son, but sadly six-year-old Afonso has leukaemia. For him to survive he urgently needs a bone marrow transplant. As soon as I get home, along with the whole family and friends, I shall be having the test to see if I could be a match. I hope that some of you out there will agree to do the same. You can visit www.saveafonso.com and learn all about how you can help this child. I know from personal experience what it is like to have an ill child as both of mine were born premature. Jo and myself were lucky, so I hope Andre and his family can find someone out there who can provide the match to save Afonso’s life.”
2010 FIA World Touring Car Championship Calendar
- 7th March - Curitiba - Brazil
- 11th April - Puebla - Mexico
- 2nd May - Marrakech - Morocco
- 23rd May - Monza - Italy
- 20th June - Zolder - Belgium
- 4th July - Algarve - Portugal
- 18th July - Brands Hatch - United Kingdom
- 1st August - Brno - Czech Republic
- 5th September - Oschersleben - Germany
- 19th September - Valencia - Spain
- 31st October - Okayama - Japan
- 21st November - Macau - China