TouringCarTimes

Superstars : Audi gets 100 kilos and air restrictor after Donington Park

Pietro Casillo — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:10:36 +0100

The Audi RS5 has been given a weight penalty of 100 kilos as well as an air restrictor after its superior performances at Imola and Donington Park.

The decision has been taken by the Superstars Series Permanent Bureau, whose purpose is to keep the performances equal. The Bureau has also decided to reduce the weight of the main competitors in the series, as the BMWs will be 20 kilos lighter at Mugello. The Mercedes C63 AMG will have its weight reduced by 15 kilos, while the Maserati will weigh 10 kilos less.

The Quattroporte will also enjoy the removal of its air restrictor at Mugello, where the series will hold its fourth event of the year.

Audi has won the four last meetings, with Gianni Morbidelli taking a double win at Donington Park, much like Johan Kristoffersson had at Imola one month earlier. Audi leads both the International and Italian Series with Kristoffersson.

The Superstars Series will go back on track on June, 3th at Mugello, Tuscany, after which the Bureau has warned it may take more decisions in order to balance the performance of the cars.

TcTalk : The Touring Car Weekend in pictures

Johan Meissner — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:46:21 +0100

Last weekend saw a multitude of touring car championship races in Europe and Australia. TouringCarTimes has gathered a selection of the weekend's action in a picture special.

The pictures have been taken by TouringCarTimes photo partners PSP Images and Mediaempire STHLM AB.

ETCC : Krammes and Necchi fight for S1600 ETCC title

Neil Hudson — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:57:11 +0100

After the penultimate round of the 2012 FIA European Touring Car Cup in Austria, the fight in the most populated class in the field is now a two way battle between German driver Kevin Krammes and the Italian Paolo Necchi.

19-year-old German Krammes won the first five races of the 2012 ETCC in his Ravenol Team GENA Ford Fiesta, whilst the 39-year-old Italian Necchi took his first win of the season in race two at the Salzburgring to remain in contention for the Super 1600 title in the rival Ravenel Team SAN run car.

However, Necchi will have his work cut out for him at the finale at Imola next month, with Krammes leading by 17 points in the class with just 23 available. Necchi's team-mate Ulrike Krafft, who finished runner-up in the S1600 class last year, is in third place but 37 points down on Krammes and is mathematically out of the race for the title.

ETCC S1600 Standings after Austria

TTA : Alx Danielsson enters TTA with Brovallen Design

Rob Veltman — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:09:53 +0100

Alx Danielsson is going to take part in the TTA - Racing Elite League race at Anderstorp, driving a Citroën C5 TTA for Brovallen Design. "It is nice to be back in the very top again. My main focus is back on my racing career and this is a good opportunity to get to test TTA," said Danielsson.

The 31-year-old took part in the STCC last year with his own team, driving a SEAT León, but has for this year closed down Danielsson Motorsport. Danielsson took part in STCC support class Camaro Cup last weekend with 12th as result in the first race.
"I am not in top shape yet, neither physically nor mentally. I think I am going to learn the TTA car quickly, but the opposition is hard and the others in the series have had several test days and a race weekend. If I can be close to the fastest guy of our team, then I'll be pleased," said Danielsson who is aiming for full season in 2013.

Danielsson replaces Mark Miller who is unable to make the Anderstorp race, just as other Brovallen Design driver Jan Brunstedt is replaced by Markus Nordenström as he is racing in the Blancpain series. Brovallen Design team manager Tobias Johansson is pleased to have Danielsson onboard for the race at Anderstorp.
"Just have a look at his racing cv, it isn't just anyone who wins the World Series by Renault. As he wants to go for his racing career again, the choise to take part in the TTA - Racing Elite Leauge is self-explanatory," said Johansson.

Danielsson's previous experiences includes Swedish Formula Ford champion in 2000, British Formula Ford Winter Series champion in 2002, World Series by Renault champion in 2006 and third in Formula 3000 Italy 2007.

BTCC : Colin Turkington to test for WSR at Silverstone

TouringCarTimes — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:46:58 +0100

2009 BTCC champion Colin Turkington is going to test for eBay Motors West Surrey Racing at Silverstone on Friday. "Colin was the obvious choice - it is purely to help us with chassis and set-up work," said Team Manager Dick Bennetts to BTCC.net.

"We had planned to run recently at Oulton Park with Tom but the weather forecast was very unpredictable so we canned it. This week it's a good forecast and Silverstone is a good venue as it's got long, wide straights which will come in handy as there will be other categories of car out on track at the same time."

Turkington is testing the WSR BMW 320si as the team's three 2012 drivers, Rob Collard, Tom Onslow-Cole and Nick Foster, have other commitments.

While racing in the STCC last year for Flash Engineering in an naturally aspirated BMW 320si E90, Turkington also took part in the WTCC, driving the 1.6 turbo charged engine, experience WSR is keen to take advantage of.

"It will be good for Colin to shake the rust off he hasn't competed much lately but also interesting to hear his feedback. Hes obviously raced the 1.6-litre turbo engine in World Touring Cars but not the 2-litre engine used in the BTCC. Fitting a turbo engine to the BMW for 2012 has been a learning curve for all of us OK, we won first time out with it at Brands Hatch but we need to get on top of our tyre situation. We've been running out of steam towards the end of races so, based on a lot of homework back at base, we'll fire some different set-ups at the car at Silverstone and see what happens," said Bennetts.

DTM : All three manufacturers on the podium at Brands Hatch

Chelsea Woods — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:43:14 +0100

For the first time this season all three DTM manufacturers were on the podium at Brands Hatch, with Gary Paffet claiming victory for Mercedes, BMW driver Bruno Spenlger second and Mike Rockenfeller third for Audi.

With two wins from three races, Mercedes currently leads the manufacturers' championship on 133 points, giving them a 47-point margin over second placed Audi. Third placed BMW, who have returned to the championship in 2012 after a break of almost twenty years, are only two points behind Audi.

All three manufacturers had two cars finish in the top six at Brands Hatch, something that also occurred at the previous round at the Lausitzring. It is a sign of the competitiveness of the championship according to the Head of Motorsport for each manufacturer.

Norbert Haug (Head of Mercedes Motorsport): "From the outside looking in 1-2-3, three different manufacturers two times in three races, that's quite amazing. That just shows it is competitive and you need to get it right. I think this is what we basically dreamed of when we did the new rules. This is a good basis to work from. They are doing a good job and I think for spectators that is just fantastic."

Jens Marquardt (Head of BMW Motorsport): "The first few races have already shown that the 2012 DTM pack is reshuffled at every circuit. The three manufacturers are on a par with each other, making it all but impossible to predict the race weekends. This is the best possible scenario for the fans, as motor racing can hardly get any more exciting and evenly balanced than in the DTM"

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "The podium reflects the current picture in the DTM: all three manufacturers are battling on an equal footing. It's about tenths, hundredths and thousandths."

Only time will tell whether all three manufacturers will be on the podium again with the next round of the championship to be held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on June 3rd.

Superstars : Johan Kristoffersson keeps lead of three championships

Johan Meissner — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:27:36 +0100

Johan Kristoffersson had yet another strong race weekend and keeps the lead of three championships: Superstars, STCC and Carrera Cup Scandinavia. "Given the circumstances, I am of course very happy over mine and my teams efforts this weekend," said Kristoffersson.

The Swede continued his victory run in Carrera Cup Scandinavia where he won his second straight race, 12 seconds ahead of the closest competitor.
"It feels great, I found great race tempo and had somewhat of my own race against my self," said Kristoffersson.

Straight from the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to his Volkswagen Scirocco in the STCC where he qualified fourth and secured a double podium with second and third, keeping the championship lead on 83 points ahead of Rickard Rydell's 79.
"Second and third was maximum of what we were able to do this weekend. We had a hard time competing against the Chevrolet at this track. I pushed as hard as I could, but it was not enough for a victory this time," said Kristoffersson.

Kristoffersson went straight to the airport after the STCC races with Donington Park and Superstars International Series as destination. Because of the clashing weekend, Kristoffersson had to start last from the first race after missing qualifying but still made his way to second place.

The Swede finished second in both races behind team mate and double race winner Gianni Morbidelli, with both drivers taking advantage of the extreme superiority of the Audi RS5 at Donington.
"I went to England to collect as many points as possible and I had no greater hopes of reaching the podium. My goal was to finish eighth in the first race to start from pole in the second. But things turned out much better than that," said Kristoffersson.

Kristoffersson leads the championship on 85 points with Thomas Biagi closest in second on 69 points and Vitantonio Liuzzi third on 64 points.

ETCC : Fernando Monje on target to secure ETCC title in Imola

Neil Hudson — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:30:48 +0100

Fernando Monje took his fourth win from six in the FIA European Touring Car Cup at the Salzburgring, and is looking forward to joining the WTCC grid from Brazil once the Cup concludes at Imola.

Fernando Monje has a 12 point lead over Peter Rikli, but the consistency of Rikli's Honda Civic plus the strong results from Slovakia and Salzburg for Krenek Motorsport's Petr Fulín and his BMW mean Monje will still need to have a good weekend on 24th June in Imola to take the 2012 ETCC crown.

If it hadn't been for the disasters at Slovakia, with a broken flat floor ending his race with a puncture in race one, and then contact in race two which saw him forced to retire and serve a grid drop this weekend, it's likely Monje would have wrapped up the Super 2000 class title at the Salzburgring.

"Of course it's always good to win as soon as possible," said Monje to TouringCarTimes. "What happened in Slovakia is normal, not only in one race, I had problems in both, but those things happen. And now (here) it was a great race like in Monza, so we take a 12 point lead to Imola which is a nice difference to have."

Monje is also entered for the World Touring Car Championship this year, making his debut last month at Valencia, but after a tough weekend for all the SUNRED drivers without the latest SEAT engine, the plan to compete at all non-clashing WTCC/ETCC rounds was changed, and Monje will instead join the field when the new engine is available to him in Brazil.

"We'll be in Curitiba for sure with the new engine," said Monje. "We did our home race in Valencia, but looking at the performance of the car we wanted to wait till Curitiba, even though now Monteiro's going very fast as the SUNRED team have done a great job improving the car. But for now we want to focus on ETCC where we can be champions, and then we can do a full programme (of WTCC) from Curitiba until the end."

ETCC S2000 Drivers' Standings after Austria

WTCC : Double points finish for Ford at the Salzburgring

Neil Hudson — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:59:14 +0100

Ford took points in both races with James Nash finishing tenth in races one and two, with Tom Chilton in 11th in race two, with Ford the only front-wheel drive manufacturer not to suffer from punctures in that race.

James Nash finished in tenth place in race one, following Hungarian WTCC race winner Norbert Michelisz across the line in race one with Chilton in 16th, whilst both the Fords were able to benefit from the retirements and punctures in race two, moving up to 10th and 11th respectively and adding two points to their tally.

"It's been quite a challenging weekend for me, and I didn't feel that I maximised my own performance during qualifying," said Nash. "However these two races have given us a strong idea of the direction we need to be going in. It's great to have scored points in both races this weekend. To be consistent and walk away with points during both races is always a positive."

The team will have limited time to work on the cars before the next round at Portimao, and then only ten days in the factory before the cars are shipped to South America for the start of the flyaway season, where they expect to be able to try out some further improvements, but driver Tom Chilton is happy with the progress they're making.

"All the other circuits we've been (excluding Marrakech & Slovakiaring), we've been 1-2 seconds off pole in qualifying," said Chilton to TouringCarTimes. "And 1-2 seconds in racing terms in my mind is a long time, but when I look at all the other manufacturers who have come into the Championship over the years they say they were four seconds off, so I see our team as 75% down the road further than they were."

The team will also have their test car ready in June which will allow them to further develop the Ford Focus S2000 TC whilst the race cars are in transit across the Americas and Asia for the remaining half of the 2012 season.

WTCC : More points for Tiago Monteiro in Austria

Neil Hudson — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:54:08 +0100

Although a puncture also scuppered the Portuguese driver's race in race two at the Salzburgring, the SUNRED driver is delighted with a string of good results, with three consecutive fifth positions in the SR León 1.6T.

Shown by first qualifying in fourth on the grid two meetings ago at the Slovakiaring, the SUNRED-engined León has shown much improved performance bringing it closer to the four works engine SEAT Leóns on the grid.

Monteiro took his best finish of the year in Hungary, finishing fifth in both races and replicated that result yesterday at the Salzburgring, passing the Chevrolet Cruze of Alex MacDowall at the start and holding him off for another fifth place, finishing behind the three works Chevrolets and the SEAT of Gabriele Tarquini.

"In terms of performance, the end result is positive," said Monteiro. "Our race pace was good in particular. I was attacking from the first lap to the last lap in the first race, to guarantee this fifth place finish for the team, which is a fine reward."

In race two, Monteiro was the first driver to be hit by a puncture, and he would be the first of eight drivers to suffer the same blight in the race, which forced him to retire from the race.

In two weeks time it's Monteiro's home race at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve, Portugal. Although Special Tuning Racing will finally shed the TDI engine in Tom Boardman's car due to a long standing arrangement with SEAT going back to Macau, it's still not clear whether Monteiro will be running the new SEAT Sport 1.6 turbo or will be forced to continue with the SUNRED engine.

"Regardless of which version of the SEAT León we will have, we will prepare for these races with the greatest professionalism and the same determination," says Monteiro. "Logically, racing in front of my fans, I would like to have the new engine, but if that is not the case, it won't affect my motivation at all."

DTM : Spengler happy with new podium finish for BMW

Johan Meissner — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:06:09 +0100

Bruno Spengler secured a new podium finish for BMW as the DTM raced at Brands Hatch. The Canadian started third and finished second. "I am very happy with this second place. Gary Paffett was very quick, particularly in the first stint. Despite this, I was able to hang on to his coattails. It reminded me of my win at the Lausitzring, but with the roles reversed," said Spengler.

The BMW driver made a strong final part of the race after his second pitstop, gaining on race leader Gary Paffett. But Spengler wasn't able to get close enough and had to defend from Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller after sustaining damage on the front splitter.
"It was a tough race. You do not have much time to take a breather in the cockpit. The team was brilliant again. The second stop was particularly good. My front-left splitter broke towards the end of the race, which made things a bit exciting. But we did enough," said Spengler.

Spengler is currently second in the championship on 43 points, with Paffett in the lead on 68 points and Mattias Ekström as best Audi driver in third on 35 points.
"The season has been great so far. The three manufacturers are extremely evenly matched, which makes it fun for us drivers as well as the fans," said Spengler.

BMW-Team-Schnitzer is second in the teams championship, with a happy Team Principal Charly Lamm.
That was another really impressive race from Bruno. It is unbelievable that we have finished on the podium in two of the three races. BMW has built a really fantastic car. I think todays podium finish also makes a great birthday present for Jens Marquardt," said Lamm.

WTCC : Rob Huff closes the gap to Muller to eight points

Neil Hudson — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:41:42 +0100

After a win and a second place at the Salzburgring, Rob Huff has gone from third to second in the 2012 WTCC standings, and is just eight points away from Yvan Muller at the mid-season mark.

Huff converted his first pole of the year into a race victory in race one, though it wasn't a runaway victory with team-mates Yvan Muller and Alain Menu ready to pounce at any point to take the victory as the three Chevrolets pulled away in the first race.

"It was so difficult in race one defending to Yvan, going up the back straight giving the slipstream away," said Huff. "I think at some points he was 10km/h faster than me and more than three-quarters of the way past me on the outside, but that gave me the inside for Turn 9."

"Probably one of the hardest races of my life, looking more in the mirrors than looking forward, but a great result especially for the team."

In race two, starting from tenth on the grid, Huff managed to pass Alain Menu, who admitted he'd made a terrible start after the race, and follow Yvan Muller through the field, moving into second place on lap five as he passed Tom Coronel's ROAL Motorsport BMW.

With Menu suffering a puncture late in the race, the two other RML-Chevrolet drivers backed off to try and conserve their tyres, but their efforts were in vain, with Muller suffering a puncture on the final lap and Huff following on the next corner, though Huff briefly took the lead of the race, he was passed by Stefano D'Aste around the outside but was able to crawl across the line in second place, with Muller finishing eighth.

",I've got to be pleased that I took second place," said Huff. "I got a puncture the corner after Yvan did. Unfortunately for Tom (Coronel) he chose the wrong side to go, as I had a front-left puncture so the car wouldn't turn to the right. It was OK through the left, but as I turned to the right I just understeered wide and unfortunately took Tom with me and Stefano had gambled well and took the right line and got his first win, so congratulations to him."

Yvan Muller still leads the Championship standings as he has all year, but the gap is now just eight points to Rob Huff with Alain Menu just 31 points behind, with 55 available per race meeting.

Chevrolet continue to pull away in the manufacturers' standings, now on 495 points, whilst BMW and SEAT battle over second place, with BMW pulling away slightly this weekend now on 338 to SEAT's 313.

WTCC Drivers' Standings after Austria

WTCC : D'Aste: "I didn't know the race had finished"

Neil Hudson — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:07:09 +0100

Stefano D'Aste was ecstatic after taking his first career victory in the WTCC at the Salzburgring, and the first win for the German Wiechers-Sport team, but admitted after the race he didn't know it was the last lap as he made his way past Rob Huff and Tom Coronel at the final corner.

"I did a good job with Tom (Coronel) in the first laps and got a little gap, but then the Chevrolets arrived...and they overtook us," said D'Aste. "Then after some laps I realised they were not continuing to push and we were closing the gap lap by lap."

On the final lap when Yvan Muller went off track with a puncture, and with Rob Huff picking up the same problem on the next corner, Tom Coronel, now second, was stuck behind Huff on the left side of the track and an opportunistic D'Aste managed to dive around the outside to take the lead and go past the chequered flag.

"I didn't know it was the last lap," said D'Aste, "I thought I had to do two very very quick laps as I need to build a gap, but the race was finished."

"I continued to push after the chicane and then I asked to Dominik (Greiner, Wiechers-Sport Team Manager) 'How many laps do I have to do?', and Dominik said the race is finished, you won!"

The win is D'Aste's first official win in the WTCC, though the Italian famously took the chequered flag first in 2005 at Spa-Francorchamps, but as he'd won after cutting the last chicane he was handed a time penalty which saw the win handed back to Fabrizio Giovanardi's Alfa Romeo.

The Italian was also penalised by the stewards after this race, as he'd climbed out of his car on the slowing-down lap to celebrate with the crowd, and returned to the parc fermé without his seat belts securely fastened, though this time it was only a reprimand.

Despite D'Aste's win and joint independents' class win, with Pepe Oriola second and Norbert Michelisz third in class in race two, and with D'Aste suffering a DNF in race one, he remains third in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy after Austria, 21 points behind Oriola.

WTCC Independents' Standings after Austria

WTCC : Alex MacDowall takes first independents' win

Neil Hudson — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:03:01 +0100

Former BTCC driver Alex MacDowall took his first independents' class win in the WTCC in Austria after a strong showing all weekend in the Bamboo Engineering Chevrolet Cruze.

MacDowall secured his first class pole position yesterday with fifth on the grid, with only Gabriele Tarquini's Lukoil Racing Team SEAT separating him from the three works Chevrolets, and without his team-mate Pasquale Di Sabatino in Q2 was left without a slipstreaming partner.

In the first race, MacDowall dropped a spot to Tiago Monteiro at the start, but the 21-year-old from Carlisle held position to finish as the top placed independent driver and took 11 points in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

"It's been a good weekend," said MacDowall after the race. "It's what we needed, that little boost, our spirits are very high."

"I was looking healthy during the race, I could see the three works Chevrolets battling quite hard with the tow, so it was a shame Monteiro got ahead at the start. It was just so tough to try and get past him and Tarquini was very wise in his defensive moves."

"I thought I'd play it safe and if it an opportunity comes I'd take it, but it didn't happen but I'm still happy to take my first independent win."

Alex MacDowall is now in a clear sixth in the independents' standings, just three points behind Mehdi Bennani going to the next round at Portimao.

TC2000 : Matias Rossi wins at San Juan and takes championship lead

Johan Meissner — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:59:04 +0100

Matías Rossi won the Super TC 2000 race at San Juan, claiming the championship lead. Chevrolet driver Christian Ledesma finished second with Rossi's team mate Mariano Werner in third.

Ledesma, Werner and Agustín Canapino were involved in a big scrap for second in the race. The fight lasted until seven laps before the finish when Canapino had to retire due to technical problems.

Ledesma and Werner continued the fight until the very end, with Ledesma keeping ahead, but only just with 0.569 seconds separating the both over the finishing line.

Pole position man José María López was an early victim in the race, being forced to retire his PSG16 Team Ford Focus due to technical problems.

Peugeot 408 driver Nestor Girolami finished fourth ahead of Jorge Trebbiani and Leonel Pernía. Facundo Ardusso and Matias Munoz Marchesi rounded off the top ten.

With four races completed of the 2012 season, Rossi heads the standings on 83 points, Werner is second on 80 points and Girolami is third on 72 points. Super TC 2000 continues at General Roca on June 10.

Superstars : Double 1-2 for Morbidelli and Kristoffersson at Donington

Pietro Casillo — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:40:07 +0100

Gianni Morbidelli made it a double win for Audi, again dominating ahead of championship leader Johan Kristoffersson to make it a 1-2 for the German manufacturer. Vitantonio Liuzzi completed the podium for CAAL Racing.

At the start Andrea Larini retained the lead, as the close pack determined a first lap crash between Max Pigoli, Max Mugelli and Stefano Gabellini. The three had to retire due to the accident and the Safety Car was deployed.

At the restart Liuzzi was leading ahead of Thomas Biagi after Andrea Larini made a quick stop in the pitlane during the Safety Car period. However, Kristoffersson and Morbidelli were quicker than anyone and soon found themselves in first and second place respectively.

The two started fighting towards the end of the race, the Swede hardly resisting to the Italian's attacks. Kristoffersson later decided to let his team-mate through after he realized the former Grand Prix driver was quicker, to avoid any contact during the battle.

More drama was to come as Tom Onslow-Cole and Johnny Herbert made contact, with the Jaguar driver having to retire. Herbert managed to go on to take seventh in his Maserati, although the performance of his Quattroporte appeared not to be the same after the crash at the final hairpin.

Liuzzi took the podium ahead of a consistent Francesco Sini, with Paolo Meloni's BMW M3 E90 managing a very positive fifth place ahead of Thomas Biagi. Herbert came home seventh ahead of Larini, who was then demoted to eleventh after being penalized with 25 seconds after the race, just as Sandro Bettini who finished tenth.

Andrea Boffo was therefore promoted to eighth ahead of Mauro Cesari's Maserati and Nico Caldarola's Mercedes C63 AMG. Thomas Schöffler, who had looked strong yesterday, had to retire before the race even started as his car failed to start.

Kristoffersson currently leads the championship with 85 points ahead of Thomas Biagi, 16 points behind the Swede. Liuzzi managed to retain third, 21 points shy of Kristoffersson. However the Mercedes driver now leads Morbidelli by a mere point, as the Italian took a clean sweep of victories at Donington.

Larini and Pigoli are now 37 and 40 points behind the leader respectively, after enduring a tough weekend at Donington.

Superstars resumes at Mugello in two weeks.

WTCC : Speculation rife over multiple tyre failures in Austria

Neil Hudson — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:48:23 +0100

Chevrolet and SEAT were both caught out by punctures in the second race at the Salzburgring, with three of the four SEAT drivers affected and all five of the Chevrolets, which saw BMW take their second win of the year in two consecutive meetings, this time with Stefano D'Aste.

Despite no punctures being seen in any of the free practice sessions or the first race, eight cars suffered from front-left punctures with the most disastrous incident that of Alain Menu's crash.

"I'm not sure why as it was early in the race and we didn't have a problem in race one," said Menu. "So I guess I must have picked some debris on the track but that was a bloody big hit."

Alex MacDowall and Pasquale Di Sabatino of the independent Bamboo Engineering team also suffered punctures in their Chevrolet Cruzes, with MacDowall joining Menu in the Turn 9 gravel trap whilst Di Sabatino was able to pit and continued on to finish in 15th.

Tiago Monteiro was the first victim in the SR León 1.6T of SUNRED Engineering, going off on lap seven and scooping gravel in the corner and opting to drive into the pits and retire. The two Lukoil Racing Team SEATs of Gabriele Tarquini and Aleksei Dudukalo also suffered punctures and dropped to 14th and 16th after pitting for a new set.

Rob Huff and Yvan Muller both suffered punctures at the end of the final lap, both were able to cross the line in second and eighth respectively having been second and first beforehand.

"We thought we'd done our homework as we knew the challenge would be the front left tyre," said Chevrolet Motorsport Manager Eric Nève to TouringCarTimes. "We were OK in qualifying and we were OK in race one. After the fact you can think that was due to the safety car phase in race one which we didn't have in race two."

"All the drivers I have spoken to said the tyres just went bang. Alain had a serious off, and Rob just got away with a little bit more luck than Yvan, as he had his puncture at the last corner and Yvan at the one before that."

"What makes me worry is Portimao, because at Portimao we also have three right handers and towards the end the last one is a very long one. OK we've been there before, and we've punctured there before as well. "

"Maybe we built up some overconfidence over the weekend," Nève added, "As there weren't any alarms before this."

Rob Huff also suspects the safety car period in race one contributed to the tyres being able to last the first race, with all the Chevrolet drivers saying they made no set-up changes between races.

"I think the only difference between the two races was that the tyres got a good two or three lap rest in the middle of that race, and for sure I think that is the one thing that made a difference," said Huff.

Ford were the only manufacturer with front-wheel drive cars not so suffer problems in the race, which was to the benefit with James Nash picking up points in race two as well with tenth after having fallen down the order early on and Tom Chilton close behind in second.

"We're not working the tyre hard enough," said Arena Team Manager Alan Cole to TouringCarTimes. "We're still learning. We're running what (tyre pressures) Yokohama recommend, as we don't have the experience of everyone else, so we'll run exactly what Yokohama say we should until we know any better."

WTCC : Chevrolet drivers question absence of race two safety car

Neil Hudson — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:15:09 +0100

Chevrolet drivers Rob Huff and Yvan Muller have questioned why there wasn't a safety car in race two, with the cars of Alain Menu and Alex MacDowall strewn across the gravel trap at Turn 9 for the last three laps of the race.

Alain Menu had suffered a puncture on Lap 9 in his Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T and had careered off into the barrier at high speed, with Alex MacDowall's Bamboo Chevrolet also spinning off at the same corner moments later.

The incident was managed by yellow flags at the corner only, but with all five of the Chevrolet drivers and three out of the four SEATs in the race also suffering punctures, Rob Huff and Yvan Muller have questioned the decision not to deploy the safefy car as there could have been an even more severe accident.

"It's a fast corner, it's 200km/h, there are two cars in the gravel trap, imagine if I blew up my tyre not (in Turn 10) but (Turn 9), 200 metres earlier, I would have gone into them," said Muller to TouringCarTimes. "It would not have made a difference to the result, as behind the safety car we have to do the same amount of laps anyway, but to not put the safety car out for that, it was not a good move."

Race one winner Rob Huff, who was fortunate to be able to still cross the line in second place in race two despite the last minute puncture, echoed Muller's sentiment.

"How there wasn't a safety car with Alain and Alex in the barrier there I don't know," he said. "That's probably one of the most dangerous positions a car can be. "

ETCC : Fernando Monje wins again at the Salzburgring

Neil Hudson — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:40:30 +0100

Fernando Monje won for the second time today at the Salzburgring, going from eighth to first in two laps whilst Paulo Necchi takes his first win in S1600.

Urs Sonderegger took the lead into the first corner in his PCR Sport SEAT León Supercopa, taking the lead from Csapa Gáspár's Alfa Romei, whilst Andreas Pfister's Supercopa was spun around by Gáspár. Later on the lap, Sonderegger was passed around the outside into Turn 12 by Stian Paulsen.

By the end of the first lap, Monje was up to sixth place, and went on to pass Gáspár as well as Peter Rikli's Honda Civic on lap two, and then overtook three cars, two on the straight, to take the lead on the third lap and pulled up to a 10 second gap on Stian Paulsen.

In Super 1600 the battle was much closer with Kevin Krammes leading early on in the Ravenol Team GENA Ford Fiesta but he was soon caught and passed by category rival Paolo Necchi, in the Ravenol Team SAN Fiesta.

Urs Sonderegger was spun out in Turn 1 whilst fighting to keep fourth place from Gáspár's Alfa on lap seven, which saw the Swiss driver out of the race.

In Super Production, Nikolay Karamyshev won the class, though he made contact with rival Aleksander Tosic after Tosic, which saw the Serbian driver knocked off the track. He'd later close to finish just 2.4 second behind Karamyshev at the finish.

Necchi went on to take the win in Super 1600 ahead of Krammes, whilst Vadim Mescheryakov's Chevrolet Aveo was hit by Ulrike Krafft's Ford on the final lap, with Meshcheryakov retiring and Krafft going on to finish third.

The incidents between Gáspár and Pfister, and Meshcheryakov and Krafft are under investigation by the stewards.

Although Monje's won four of the six rounds, he won't be able to secure his title until the final round next month at Imola, with Peter Rikli and Petr Fulín still mathematically in with a chance of the title.

In Super 1600, it's a two driver race between Ravenol Team GENA's Kevin Krammes and Ravenol Team SAN's Paolo Necchi with 18 points between them.

The final round of the 2012 ETCC is at Imola on June 24th.

ETCC : Fernando Monje wins race one in Austria

Neil Hudson — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:26:24 +0100

Fernando Monje overcame his ten place grid penalty to go from 11th to first and take his third win of the 2012 FIA European Touring Car Cup season.

SUNRED Engineering team-mate Igor Skuz started from pole and held the spot into the first corner, whilst Andreas Pfister was edging Single Make Trophy class rival Stian Paulsen off the track in order to hold on to his second place into the first corner.

Christian Fischer and Aytac Biter made contact at the first corner, with Fischer being spun around. The two would resume battle later in the race with Fischer recovering to eighth place before Biter made contact whilst passing him back on lap 11, which knocked the door loose on the Honda Accord. Fischer would later pit with further damage after clouting the tyre stacks at Turn 1.

There was a safety car early in the race to allow the recovery of Steffan Grossmann's Ford Fiesta which had crashed out at Turn 7.

At the restart, Fernando Monje was rapidly moving up the order from ninth, taking the lead from Igor Skuz on lap 11, with Skuz later dropping down to ninth place.

Andreas Pfister won in the single make trophy class with second ahead of Stian Paulsen, with Petr Fulín the top BMW driver in fourth.

Nikolay Karamyshev won in the Super Production class just 0.338 ahead of rival Aleksander Tosic, whilst Kevin Krammes secured his fifth win from five starts in Super 1600 for Ravenol Team GENA, though the German had to fight off a strong charge from Argentinean driver Wilson Borgnino in his Maurer Motorsport Chevrolet Aveo.

Race two is at 17:05 CET.