Only seven
days after the last race, China will host the eighth round of the FIA World Touring Car
Cup 2018 (WTCR). After Ningbo, the city track of
Wuhan will be the venue for the latest chapter of the fight for the
season’s title, which will be held on October 6th and 7th.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, is located on the banks of
the Yangtze River, 900 kilometers east of Shanghai. As a centre of
the country’s automotive industry it is an important transportation
and industrial center.
The challenging city circuit is a regular date on the Chinese
Touring Championship calendar. However, at only 2.984 meters long,
the track offers few overtaking possibilities and is new to almost
all the WTCR drivers, including the BRC Racing Team duo, Gabriele Tarquini and
Norbert
Michelisz.
The Hyundai
i30 N TCR was one of the fastest cars throughout
the previous weekend in Ningbo, but the Wuhan street circuit will
be a fresh challenge for the car, drivers and team. The tight
confines of the track mean the qualifying sessions will be particularly
crucial to the weekend’s strategies and results. The three race
format of the WTCR weekend will put a premium on avoiding damage,
something especially important for the BRC Racing Team drivers in
their battle for the championship.
WTCR points’ leader Gabriele Tarquini declares: "The circuit is new for
everyone and we do not know exactly what awaits us for the weekend.
Only one WTCR driver has raced here before, but the circuit has
been resurfaced and modified for this season, so it is a new challenge
for everyone. I hope to have three good races and to collect
important points for the championship. However, it will be very
challenging, given the incredibly competitive nature of series”.
Norbert Michelisz says: "Wuhan
will be a special place to race at, since it is a completely new
circuit for most of us. Because of that it is difficult to have
clear expectations, but I expect close racing and an exciting
challenge. It will be crucial to finish every race to gather as
many points as possible, since from now on every result will have a
big effect on the championship. My goal as always is to score the
most points available".
Round 8 WTCR
Race of China 2018 – Wuhan International Street Track
Timetable
All times
local (GMT +08:00)
FRIDAY 5th OCTOBER
13.00 – 13.30 Free Practices 1 (30 minutes)
15.30 – 16.00 Free Practices 2 (30 minutes)
SATURDAY 6th OCTOBER
10.30 – 11.10 Qualifying (40 minutes)
16.00 – 16.30 Race 1 (18 laps)
SUNDAY 7th OCTOBER
9.00 – 9.30 Qualifying Q1 (30 minutes)
9.35 – 9.50 Qualifying Q2 (15 minutes)
10.00 (start first car) Qualifying Q3
15.45 – 16.15 Race 2 (18 giri)
17.05 – 17.40 Race 3 (21 giri)
OVERALL
RANKINGS - DRIVERS
1 – #30
Gabriele Tarquini ITA - BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 241
2 – #11 Thed Björk SWE - MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 233
3 – #48 Yvan Muller FRA - MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 232
4 – #5
Norbert Michelisz HUN - BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 195
5 – #68 Yann Ehrlacher FRA - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport -
HONDA - pt. 178
6 – #86 Esteban Guerrieri ARG - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport -
HONDA - pt.174
7 – #69 Jean-Karl Vernay FRA - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team -
AUDI - pt. 166
8 – #74 Pepe Oriola ESP – Campos Racing - CUPRA - pt.165
9 – #12 Rob Huff GBR - Sébastien Loeb Racing - VOLKSWAGEN - pt. 161
10 – #22 Frédéric Vervisch BEL – Audi Sport Team Comtoyon - AUDI -
pt. 143
OVERALL
RANKINGS - TEAMS
1 – MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 477
2 – BRC
Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 443
3 – ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport - HONDA - pt. 358
4 – Sébastien Loeb Racing - VOLKSWAGEN - pt. 269
5 – Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - AUDI - pt. 250
6 – Campos Racing - CUPRA - pt. 191
7 – Audi Sport Team Comtoyou - AUDI - pt. 187
8 – DG Sport Competition - PEUGEOT - pt.148
9 – Boutsen Ginion Racing - HONDA - pt. 79
10 – ComtoyouRacing - AUDI - pt. 61
11 –
Mulsanne Srl - CUPRA - pt. 35
12 – Zengo Motorsport - CUPRA - pt. 29
About BRC
Racing Team
BRC Racing Team is the racing department of BRC Gas Equipment.
With a presence in over 70 countries in the world, and a customer
portfolio that includes the major car manufacturers, BRC Gas
Equipment is a world leader in the production of systems and
components for LPG and CNG conversion of vehicles. BRC Racing Team
is an integrated project of R&D and Marketing, aimed at
promoting the brand and the corporate image through Motorsport.
About the
Hyundai i30 N TCR
Announced in February 2017 the i30 N TCR represents Hyundai
Motorsport’s first steps into circuit racing. Built and developed
by the Customer Racing department at the team’s headquarters in
Alzenau, Germany the car is based on Hyundai’s high-performance i30
N model. Design work for the project began in September 2016, with
the first on track test taking place in April 2017. An exhaustive
development schedule ended with the i30 N TCR taking victory in its
very first race in the TCR International Series at the Zhejiang
Raceway in China. Hyundai Motorsport delivered the first cars to
customers in December 2017, with teams competing around the world
during 2018.
About the
FIA World Touring Car Cup
The World Touring Car Cup is running to new rules and a new name
from 2018 as the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) hits the tracks.
Promoted by Eurosport Events, the organisation behind the WTCC, and
using the TCR technical regulations – a cheaper and more accessible
concept embraced by manufacturers including Audi, Honda, Hyundai,
Opel, Peugeot, Renault, SEAT and Volkswagen – WTCR will be
contested over 10 weekends in four continents from April to
November. Each event will consist of three races and will typically
take place over two days. Day one includes a single qualifying and
race, while day two is more in keeping with the previous WTCC
set-up: a three-phase qualifying and two races with the first race
utilising a reverse grid. A maximum of 26 entries will be accepted
plus a further two wildcards at each event. Although there won’t be
manufacturer teams under cost-cutting measures, several top drivers
from the WTCC and other international touring car series are set to
take part with the prospect of some extremely close and exciting
racing.
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