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WTCC set for a fast and furious Monza return

24.04.17

WTCC - 2017 Race of Italy - Preview 

WTCC, Monza, Italy, FIA, Motorsport
Some of the world’s best touring car drivers are set for a fast and furious adventure when the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza hosts FIA WTCC OSCARO Race of Italy from 28-30 April.

The most open FIA World Touring Car Championship season for nearly a decade fired up in style on the narrow streets of Marrakech, Morocco earlier this month when Esteban Guerrieri and Tiago Monteiro shared the wins. But it’s the long straights and sweeping turns of the legendary Italian Grand Prix venue that provide the latest challenge on the WTCC’s flat-out global tour.

With speeds of 200kph-plus in store, Monza offers a high-speed ride like no other as the all-action WTCC returns to Italy – and the famous 5.793-kilometre track – for the first time since 2013, when four-time world champion Yvan Muller claimed a victory double. Now a development driver for Cyan Racing, the team behind Volvo Polestar’s world championship challenge, Muller is delighted that Monza is back on the schedule. “It’s the temple of motor racing in Italy so it’s good to go on this kind of circuit,” said the seven-time Monza WTCC winner.

The WTCC’s return to Monza in 2017 is fitting as, 30 years ago, it hosted the first race of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship season. Roberto Ravaglia was the eventual champion back in 1987 and his connection to the WTCC remains strong to this day: he co-owns race-winning team ROAL Motorsport and even completed a handful of laps in driver Tom Coronel’s Chevrolet Cruze during official testing at Monza last month. “Winning the title was a long time ago but I really enjoyed this moment of my racing career,” said the Italian.

While the series reverted back to European-only status for 1988, the foundations had been laid and the WTCC name would be revived for 2005 when Andy Priaulx won the first of three straight titles.

Rob Huff is another former champion and is a big Monza fan having won twice at the venue as well as topping all four test sessions in mid-March. “It’s brilliant, just spectacular, I love it,” he said. “When you drive in through the park it’s just beautiful. It’s been sorely missed and it’s going to provide some fantastic racing – it always did and always will.”

Following Free Practice, Qualifying and the Manufacturers Against the Clock (WTCC MAC3) team time trial on Saturday 29 April, Sunday’s Opening Race covers nine laps from 12h15 local time with the 11-lap Main Race following at 14h15. There’s extensive live coverage on Eurosport and other networks around the world, while free admission tickets are available to download at Event Presenting Partner OSCARO’s Italian market website, OSCARO.it.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
*Second event of the season and the first of four in Europe. Tiago Monteiro tops the standings, seven points ahead of Honda team-mate Norbert Michelisz followed by Volvo Polestar’s Nicky Catsburg and top privateer Mehdi Bennani. It’s closer in the makes’ standings with Honda and Volvo Polestar equal on 96 points, while Bennani and Sébastien Loeb Racing team-mate Tom Chilton are level-pegging in the WTCC Trophy for independent racers
*The Monza weekend marks the official launch of eSports WTCC, the championship’s inaugural esports competition organised in partnership with RaceRoom
*The WTCC’s established feeder series, the FIA European Touring Car Cup, plus the FIA Formula 3 European Championship top the support bill

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2017
*Factory teams from Honda and Volvo Polestar go up against leading privateer entrants
*Revamped calendar features return to iconic venues Monza and Macau, a new track for WTCC Race of China, plus a mid-July date for WTCC Race of Argentina
*Reduced schedule – 10 weekends only – means every result counts
*Main Race longer than before with more points on offer to the top 10 (new scale: 1=30 points; 2=23; 3=19; 4=16; 5=13; 6=10; 7=7; 8=4; 9=2; 10=1)
*WTCC MAC3, the Tour de France-inspired time trial, continues with two more points for winning
*FIA World Rallycross-style ‘joker’ lap planned for WTCC Race of Portugal in Vila Real
*New two-day format to reduce costs (Free Practice 1 and 2 now 45 minutes, no Friday testing)
*Renewed social media push with several innovations coming during the season
*Use of 360-degree camera to give viewer the impression they are in-car with the driver

DRIVER NEWS
*Factory teams Honda and Volvo Polestar both feature tweaked driver line-ups for 2017. Japanese racer Ryo Michigami replaces Rob Huff at Honda where he will partner Norbert Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro. Thed Björk gets two new team-mates: Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami, while Yvan Muller has signed as a development driver for partner team Cyan Racing
*Huff has returned to ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport after three years away to drive the German team’s Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Mehdi Bennani and Tom Chilton continue in Sébastien Loeb Racing-run Citroëns and welcome new team-mate John Filippi
*There will be family pride at stake for rookie racers Yann Ehrlacher and Aurélien Panis. Ehrlacher is the nephew of four-time world champion Yvan Muller, while Panis’s father Olivier won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix and commentates on Eurosport France’s WTCC coverage
*Panis will partner Dániel Nagy at Zengő Motorsport, while Ehrlacher joins new team RC Motorsport
*Esteban Guerrieri has secured a partial programme with Campos Racing with work underway to make it a full-season deal following his maiden win last time out in Morocco
*Like Guerrieri, Tom Coronel will be Chevrolet Cruze-mounted in 2017 after he extended his long-term agreement with inaugural WTCC champion Roberto Ravaglia’s ROAL Motorsport team

THEY SAID WHAT?
Thed Björk (Polestar Cyan Racing):
 “It’s a fantastic track which I have raced on before in F3000. It’s fantastic because of the culture and history but also because it’s fast and challenging, and it has the high speed that makes you love motor racing. It’s a great place and when you get the Ascari chicane right it feels good.”

Tiago Monteiro (Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team): “Racing at Monza is a fantastic experience because of the fans but I’m not particularly a big fan of the long straights, hard braking and chicanes. I love the story behind Monza and the park location but we might not be as competitive as we are at other tracks although we’ll prepare for that.”

John Filippi (Sébastien Loeb Racing): “I know the track from the TV and PlayStation but the [official] test meant I could discover it for real. The first time I saw a grand prix was at Monza and I know all the names of all the corners from watching on TV and playing on PlayStation, but it’s totally different when you drive there for real. You think the track is just some long straights with a few corners but it’s actually very technical and you have to be precise with your driving, braking, throttle, everything. You need to take care to have a good set-up because the tyre degradation could be a problem, but we worked a lot during the two days of testing.”

Esteban Guerrieri (Campos Racing): “It’s been a long time since I raced there but I know it well and I love driving there. It’s one of those tracks that gives you the feeling you get when you go to places like Silversone and Spa. I’m excited when I am going there and with all the cars around I know the racing will be good. I speak Italian and I love the food and hopefully we can be fast.”

TRACK GUIDE IN 100 WORDS
Built in 1922, Monza is not only the spiritual home of Italian motor racing but also the WTCC: the inaugural FIA World Touring Car Championship event took place at the track north of Milan in 1987, while the first race of the WTCC’s new era in 2005 was also held on Monza’s high-speed layout. With the legendary parkland venue missing from the World Touring Car schedule since 2013, its return for 2017 will be keenly felt when famous turns like the Curva Grande, Lesmo and Parabolica will resonate to the sound of TC1 World Touring Cars for the first time.

TRACK ESSENTIALS
Name: Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Location: Via Vedano, 5, 20900 Monza MB, Italy
Website: www.monzanet.it
Length: 5.793 kilometres
Opening Race distance: 9 laps (52.137km)
Main Race distance: 11 laps (63.723km)
Lap record (qualifying): Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze), 1m56.486s (179.03kph), 23/03/13
Lap record (race): Rob Huff (Chevrolet Cruze), 1m59.000s (175.25kph), 11/03/12
WTCC appearances: Eight (WTCC Race of Italy took place at Imola in 2009)
Time zone: GMT +2 hours
Nearest airport: Milan Linate (26 kilometres)

PREVIOUS WINNERS
2013:
 Race 1: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze); Race 2: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze)
2012: R1: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze); R2: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze)
2011: R1: Rob Huff (Chevrolet Cruze); R2: Rob Huff (Chevrolet Cruze)
2010: R1: Andy Priaulx (BMW 320si); R2: Yvan Muller (Chevrolet Cruze)
2009: R1: Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León); R2: Yvan Muller (SEAT León)
2008: R1: Yvan Muller (SEAT León); R2: Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León)
2007: R1: Yvan Muller (SEAT León); R2: Jordi Gené (SEAT León)
2006: R1: Andy Priaulx (BMW 320si); R2: Augusto Farfus (Alfa Romeo 156)
2005: R1: Dirk Muller (BMW 320i); R2: James Thompson (Alfa Romeo 156)

MONZA FAST FACTS
*The inaugural WTCC season began in 1987 with the controversial Monza 500. BMW drivers, including eventual champion Roberto Ravaglia, filled the top six places but were excluded when their M3s were found to be underweight. Allan Moffatt and John Harvey (Holden VL Commodore SS) inherited the outright win but as they were not eligible for WTCC points, Italians Walter Voulaz and Marcello Cipriani top-scored in their Alfa Romeo 75
*German BMW driver Dirk Müller made history when he won the first WTCC race of the new era at Monza in April 2005, taking the honours in the first of two races. James Thompson won Race 2 for Alfa Romeo, while Andy Priaulx, who would go on to win the championship, came away with a fourth and fifth place
*Thompson was in the wars when the WTCC visited Monza for the last time in 2013 after his then LADA team-mate Aleksei Dudukalo missed his braking for the first chicane during qualifying and slammed straight into the side of the Briton’s car
*While Monza’s famous banking hasn’t been used in race mode since 1969, it still gets an airing thanks to the annual Monza Rally Show, won in 2016 by MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi
*The 1971 Italian Grand Prix is famous for its dramatic finish when the top five were separated by sixth tenths of a second. Peter Gethin beat Ronnie Peterson to victory by 0.01s

MEDIA INFORMATION
National Press Officer:
 Paolo Readelli, press@monzanet.it, +39 039 2482 234
Media Accreditation Centre location: Via Carlo Cattaneo, 88C – 20851 Lissone
Opening times: From 10h00-18h00 on Friday 28 April, from 08h00-18h00 on Saturday 29 April and from 08h00-12h00 on Sunday 30 April
Media Centre location: First floor of main pit building
Media Centre opening times: From 10h00-20h00 on Friday 28 April, from 08h00-20h00 on Saturday 29 April and from 08h00 until the last journalist leaves on Sunday 30 April

MEDIA DIARY

Friday 28 April
10h00-18h00: Media Accreditation Centre open; 10h00-20h00: Media Centre open

Saturday 29 April
08h00-18h00: Media Accreditation Centre open; 08h00-20h00: Media Centre open
09h00-09h45: Free Practice 1 (extended by 15 minutes for 2017)
12h00-12h45: Free Practice 2 (extended by 15 minutes for 2017)
14h15-14h35: Qualifying Q1
14h40-14h50: Qualifying Q2
15h00 (pit lane opens): Qualifying Q3
15h25-15h45: WTCC MAC3
15h50 (approx.): Post-Qualifying press conference (Media Centre)

Sunday 30 April
08h00-12h00: Media Accreditation open; 08h00-until last journalist leaves: Media Centre open
12h15-12h40: Opening Race (9 laps)
12h45 (approx.): Opening Race podium
14h15-14h45: Main Race (11 laps)
14h50 (approx.): Main Race podium
15h15 (approx.): Post-Race press conference (Media Centre)
Timings are provisional and subject to change. Additional activities may be arranged.

ONLINE MEDIA CENTRE
The new online Media Centre is a one-stop-shop for media professionals covering the WTCC. The site contains a press release archive, downloadable press kit, event guides, Q&As, high-resolution rights-free images, driver profiles, statistics, results, track maps, logos, accreditation details and much more. Click here for details.

ENTRY LIST

#

Team

Driver (Nationality)

Car

3

Sébastien Loeb Racing

Tom Chilton (GBR) T

Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 

5

Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team

Norbert Michelisz (HUN)

Honda Civic WTCC

8

Zengő Motorsport

Aurélien Panis (FRA) T

Honda Civic WTCC

9

ROAL Motorsport

Tom Coronel (NLD) T

Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

12

ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport

Rob Huff (GBR) T

Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 

18

Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team

Tiago Monteiro (PRT)

Honda Civic WTCC

25

Sébastien Loeb Racing

Mehdi Bennani (MAR) T

Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 

27

Sébastien Loeb Racing

John Filippi (FRA) T

Citroën C-Elysée WTCC 

34

Honda Racing Team JAS

Ryo Michigami (JPN)

Honda Civic WTCC

61

Polestar Cyan Racing

Néstor Girolami (ARG)

Volvo S60 Polestar

62

Polestar Cyan Racing

Thed Björk (SWE)

Volvo S60 Polestar

63

Polestar Cyan Racing

Nicky Catsburg (NLD)

Volvo S60 Polestar

68

RC Motorsport

Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) T

LADA Vesta WTCC

86

Campos Racing

Esteban Guerrieri (ARG) T

Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

99

Zengő Motorsport

Dániel Nagy (HUN)

Honda Civic WTCC

-

RC Motorsport

TBC

LADA Vesta WTCC

(T = Indicates WTCC Trophy contender)

STANDINGS AND STATISTICS
Drivers (after 2/20): 
1 Monteiro 43; 2 Michelisz 36; 3 Catsburg 28; 4 Bennani 26; 5 Guerrieri 25; etc.
Manufacturers (after 2/20): 1 Honda 96; 2 Volvo Polestar 96
WTCC Trophy (after 2/20): 1 Bennani and Chilton 16; 3 Guerrieri 13; 4 Coronel 11; 5 Huff 6; etc.
WTCC Teams (after 2/20): 1 Sébastien Loeb 18; 2 Campos 14; 3 ROAL 14; 4 Zengő 8; 5 Münnich 6
All-time race wins (top 5): Y Muller 48; López 29; Huff 28; Menu 23; Tarquini 22
All-time pole positions (top 5): Y Muller 29; López 21; Tarquini 17; Menu 15; Farfus and Huff 11
All-time fastest laps (top 5): Y Muller 38; López 29; Huff 27; Tarquini 24; Menu 20
All-time laps led (top 5): Y Muller 571; Huff 344; López 301; Menu 297; Tarquini 295