After a
month’s break following the previous race, the FIA World Touring Car
Cup (WTCR) returns with the fifth round of the
season. Vila Real will host the challenge of the WTCR Race of
Portugal on the 23rd and 24th of June.
The city in Northern Portugal holds a rich history of motorsport,
with the first racing there dating back to 1931. In the modern era
drivers take on a 4.785 meters hillside track featuring a number of
fast corners alongside tight, technical chicanes combining to
create a incredibly fast street circuit. The venue promises a
weekend of pure adrenaline during which the drivers of BRC Racing Team,
Gabriele
Tarquini and Norbert
Michelisz, will try every way to again fight for
victories and to obtain valuable points in terms of general
classification.
The team’s two Hyundai
i30 N TCR will carry the latest Balance of
Performance (BoP), with the cars running a lower ride height and
10kg lighter than at the most recent WTCR round in Netherlands. The
car, however, will remain one of heaviest in the championship,
further adding to the considerable challenge faced by the BRC
Racing Team on their debut at the track. With this slightly
improved standing, the team is focused on collecting points with
both cars from each of the three races scheduled across the
weekend.
Norbert Michelisz comments: “After
Zandvoort we have had a break of some weeks, and I used it to
prepare in the best way for the races in Vila Real. The circuit is
one of my favorites. It has a fantastic atmosphere, it's very
demanding – one of the most difficult ones in the calendar. Qualifying
and a good joker lap strategy will be the key to good results,
since it is almost impossible to overtake. I'm confident that we
will again fight for podiums this weekend in Portugal, and score
important points in the championship fight”.
Gabriele Tarquini declares: "Vila
Real is a very technical, but fast city circuit. It is a historic
route in the centre of the Portuguese town that is normally full of
enthusiasts following the race among the houses. The circuit is
full of direction changes and you need to have a very agile car
with good traction to get out quickly from the many slow corners of
the track. There are also medium and fast corners where you need to
be very precise and ride near the walls and guardrails to be fast.
Personally, I hope to score points in all three races after some
tough weekends in the championship and make the most of the
opportunities that will come from such a peculiar circuit to get on
the podium".
Round 5 WTCR
Race of Portugal 2018 –Vila Real International Circuit
Timetable
All times local (GMT +01:00)
SATURDAY 23 RD JUNE
09.00 AM – 09.30 AM Free Practice 1(30 minutes)
11.00 AM – 11.30 AM Free Practice 2 (30 minutes)
12.30 PM – 13.10 PM Qualifying (40 minutes)
16.00 PM – 16.30 PM Race 1 (11 laps)
SUNDAY 24 TH MAY
09.00 AM – 09.30 AM Qualifying Q1 (30 minutes)
09.35 AM – 09.50 AM Qualifying Q2 (15 minutes)
10.00 AM (start first car) Qualifying Q3
15.45 PM – 16.15 PM Race 2 (11 laps)
17.10 PM – 17.45 PM Race 3 (15 laps)
OVERALL
RANKINGS - DRIVERS
1 – #68 Yann Ehrlacher FRA - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport -
HONDA - pt. 146
2 – #48 Yvan Muller FRA - MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 137
3 – #12 Rob Huff GBR - Sébastien Loeb Racing - VOLKSWAGEN - pt. 130
4 – #69 Jean-Karl Vernay FRA - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team -
AUDI - pt. 121
5 – #30
Gabriele Tarquini ITA - BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 118
6 – #11 Thed Björk SWE - MRacing - HYUNDAI - pt. 112
7 – #86 Esteban Guerrieri ARG - ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport -
HONDA - pt. 109
8 – #5
Norbert Michelisz HUN - BRC Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 102
9 – #22 Frédéric Vervisch BEL – Audi Sport Team Contoyou - AUDI -
pt. 65
10 – #74 Pepe Oriola SPA - Campos Racing – CUPRA – pt. 63
OVERALL
RANKINGS - TEAMS
1 – ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport - HONDA - pt. 261
2 – MRacing YMR - HYUNDAI - pt. 261
3 – BRC
Racing Team - HYUNDAI - pt. 227
4 – Sébastien Loeb Racing - VOLKSWAGEN - pt. 207
5 – Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - AUDI - pt. 193
6 – Campos Racing - CUPRA - pt. 75
7 – Audi Sport Team Comtoyou - AUDI - pt. 68
7 – Boutsen Ginion Racing - HONDA - pt. 59
9 – DG Sport Competition - PEUGEOT - pt. 58
10 – Comtoyou Racing - AUDI - pt. 28
11 – Zengo Motorsport - CUPRA - pt. 7
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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