Repsol YPF
Ruta
Decisive race in Macau for the Repsol team
The long WTCC 2009 season ends in Macau on 22nd November - it began in Brazil on 8th March - and the SEAT Sport team has been the star of the year so far. The team`s five drivers go to the final race of the year at the top of the overall after one of the most exciting seasons ever in the WTCC. Gabriele Tarquini, Yvan Muller and Augusto Farfus are all in with a chance of winning the Drivers` Championship, just 13 points separate them and 20 are up for grabs this weekend. And there are only 3 points between SEAT and BMW with a maximum of 36 in play this weekend.
History shows that SEAT has nuever won a race in Macau, in spite of the Spanish team and its driver Yvan Muller being proclaimed champions there last year. The team`s objective is to break that negative record, and not only win but at the same time be crowned world beaters again, just like in 2008. The most important objective at the start of the season was to win one of the two titles but now the team is determined to win two.
The venue brings some additional difficulties though. The urban circuit in Macau combines very fast zones with slow turns and very tight corners. Overtaking will be very difficult and the narrow streets will not forgive the slightest error. That is why a good grid classification will be decisive, something that the team has managed to achieve in the last few races. The three consecutive pole positions - in Oschersleben, Imola and Okayama - are the result of this strategy, something that has allowed the five drivers to reach the Q2 in the last two races, essential if they are to have a chance of winning the first of the two races.
This is the starting point for the final race in this year`s WTCC championship. And as is tradition in Macau classification is on Friday and the races on Sunday.
Jaime Puig, director of the SEAT team:
"We have never won in Macau, so it is a good time to do so. In a tight championship like this year`s, with 10 cars within a second of each other, winning a title would be a great success. But the team is going for the two in play, which taking into account the changes to the rules during the competition itself would be an extraordinary result. I am convinced that our teamwork will allow Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller to beat off Augusto Farfus´s challenge in the Drivers` Championship”.
Schedule:
Thursday, 19 November
05.20 – 05.50: Free practice
Friday, 20 November
01.45 – 02.15: Free practice
05.15 – 05.45: Free practice
08.50 – 09.40: Classification
Sunday, 22 November
00.50 – 01.05: Warm-up
05.05: 1st race. 9 laps with flying start.
06.25: 2nd race. 9 laps with standing start.
11/19/2009
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