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JUNE 2011 • ISSUE 44
Belgium 2011 Race of Hungary 2011
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MULLER STEPS UP TITLE CHARGE WITH WINS AT BUDAPEST AND BRNO
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lain Menu and Yvan Muller claimed a win apiece as the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) visited Budapest, Hungary, for rounds seven and eight on 3-5 June 2011. In qualifying Alain Menu took pole position with a lap time of 1:56.546, while championship leader Rob Huff missed out on the second qualifying session after setting only the 12th fastest time in Q1. In the opening race, Chevrolet’s Menu produced a strong defensive display to claim a lights to flag triumph, with local racer Norbert Michelisz running a close second. Javier Villa made the podium in his BMW 320 TC. In the closing race at Budapest, Muller earned his first win of the season ahead of Huff in second, while 2009 WTCC Champion Gabriele Tarquini finished third.
t the following race weekend in Brno, Czech Republic, on 17-19 June 2011, Rob Huff and championship rival Yvan Muller both enjoyed wins. Muller secured his first pole-position of the season in qualifying with a time of 2:08.884, but was overtaken by Huff early in race one. The Brit made up for a disappointing showing in Hungary with a victory in round nine, heading up a Chevrolet 1-2-3 with Muller and Menu behind. Muller made up for his unfortunate start in the previous race with a determined drive in round ten, climbing through the field and past pole-sitter Tom Coronel and onto victory, with Menu finishing in third position behind Coronel. Huff remains the Drivers’ Championship leader on 187 points, while Muller’s two race wins have pushed him closer on 162 points, ahead of Menu on 134. Chevrolet’s lead of the Manufacturers’ Championship has increased, with BMW Customer Racing Teams now 167 points behind in second place.
WHAT’S THE POINT Race 1, Budapest, Result
Race 1, Brno, Result
1. Alain Menu 2. Norbert Michelisz 3. Javier Villa 4. Rob Huff
1. Rob Huff 2. Yvan Muller 3. Alain Menu 4. Tom Coronel
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T BMW 320 TC BMW 320 TC Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
Race 2, Budapest, Result
Race 2, Brno, Result
1. Yvan Muller 2. Rob Huff 3. Gabriele Tarquini 4. Tom Coronel
1. Yvan Muller 2. Tom Coronel 3. Alain Menu 4. Rob Huff
Race One Race Two
Championship Points 1. 2. 3. 4.
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T SEAT León 2.0 TDI BMW 320 TC
Norbert Michelisz Norbert Michelisz
Rob Huff (GBR) Yvan Muller (FRA) Alain Menu (SUI) Gabriele Tarquini (ITA)
1:57.552 2:04.056
Race of the Czech Republic 2011
187 162 134 83
Race One Race Two
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T BMW 320 TC
Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T BMW 320 TC Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
Rob Huff Yvan Muller
WTCC Jay-Ten
1. Aleksei Dudukalo (RUS) 2. Pepe Oriola (ESP) 3. Michel Nykjær (DEN)
2:10.863 2:11.640
65 47 38
Circuito da Boavista, Portugal
2010 WTCC Race of Portugal (Portimão) Winners: Race 1: Tiago Monteiro SEAT León TDi Race 2: Gabriele Tarquini SEAT León TDi
UKHOV EXTENDS RTCC LEAD Moscow’s Mikhaul Ukhov took victory in both rounds three and four of the YOKOHAMA-shod Russian Touring Car Championship (RTCC) at Kursk, Russia, on 5 June 2011. The TNK Racing driver held off competition from championship rival Alexander Frolov for the duration of the first race, while Vladimir Strelchenko earned his first podium of the season in third. Following his round four victory, Ukhov was joined on the podium by second-placed Sergey Ryabov. Frolov, who now trails the championship leader Ukhov by 41 points, finished in third position. The RTCC next travels to Nizhny Novgorod on 3 July 2011.
PRESTIGIOUS GRAND PRIX STANAWAY INCREASES DE PAU GETS YOKOHAMA LEAD IN ATS FORMEL 3 CUP SUPPORT
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ichie Stanaway has increased his lead of the ATS Formel 3 Cup standings after following up a double win at Assen, Netherlands, on 4-5 June 2011 with another victory at Zolder, Belgium, on 11-12 June.
The New Zealand driver sealed two stunning lights to flag victories at Assen to take an incredible 23 points from the weekend, while Markus Pommer took his first podium of the season when he finished second in race two. Moving onto Zolder, it was Stanaway who again set the pace, qualifying on pole for race one and duly following that up with a third victory in as many races. It didn’t all go his way however, with British driver Tom Blomqvist securing his first win of the season in the second race at the Belgian circuit. Stanaway now leads the series, of which YOKOHAMA is official tyre supplier, by 18 points ahead of Marco Sörensen, while Klaus Bachler sits in third 26 points behind second place.
YOKOHAMA sponsored and supplied tyres to the Grand Prix de Pau on 21-22 May 2011, the 70th running of the illustrious race. The Grand Prix, which returned after a two-year absence, is part of the FIA Formula Three International Trophy, a five-race series where the winner obtains a much-sought FIA Super License, a prerequisite for entry into Formula One. German driver Marco Wittman claimed the win after a hard-fought 35-lap encounter, before taking to the podium holding YOKOHAMA’s Ganbaro logo, thanking the motorsport community for its continued support during the recent Japanese mainland earthquake. YOKOHAMA’s first participation in the Grand Prix de Pau is part of its growing commitment to motorsport across the globe. In addition, YOKOHAMA will supply tyres to the prestigious Macau Grand Prix for the 29th consecutive year in November.
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ounds three and four of the new European Production Series (EP-Series) Driven by YOKOHAMA also took place at Brno, Czech Republic, on 18-19 June 2011, with the racing once again highly-competitive. In the first of the two 50-minute races, Kirill Ladygin was victorious after a long duel with the pairing of Marcos de Diego and Michael Kozlovskiy in the #1 car. In race two, the roles were reversed, with the duo claiming the win over Ladygin by a margin of just 1.057 seconds, their second triumph of the season. The EP-Series next travels to Porto, Portugal, for rounds five and six on 1-3 July 2011.
WTCC Race Lap Record: Augusto Farfus 2:11.045 BMW 320si 5 July 2009
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LADYGIN SHARES EP-SERIES HONOURS WITH DE DIEGO AND KOZLOVSKIY
Lap distance: 4.807 km Race distance: 2 x 11 laps
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he Black Falcon team’s three Mercedes-Benz SLS race cars will spearhead the YOKOHAMA challenge at the upcoming 24 Hours Nürburgring on 25-26 June 2011. Also competing on YOKOHAMA tyres will be the #50 Abbelen Porsche Cup, as well as the #52 Kremer Porsche GT3 Cup. The race starts at 4pm on Saturday 25 June, finishing at the same time the following day.
YOKOHAMA TROPHY: STRONG COMPETITION AT BRNO AND BUDAPEST
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ristian Poulsen is back at the top of the YOKOHAMA Drivers’ Trophy standings after four different drivers claimed victory at Budapest and Brno.
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he YOKOHAMA-equipped BMW Z4 GT3 of former WTCC driver Nobuteru Taniguchi and Taku Bamba claimed the GT300 win at the third race weekend of the 2011 Autobacs Super GT at Sepang, Malaysia, on 18-19 June 2011. The pair secured pole position with a fastest lap time of 2:08.499, following this with an unchallenged victory. YOKOHAMA-supplied entries secured six of the top ten finishing positions, with Tetsuya Tanaka and Katsuyuki Hiranaka claiming third in their Ferrari F430, while Hiroyuki Iiri and Yuhi Sekiguchi crossed the line fourth in their Lamborghini Gallardo GT3. In the GT500 class Hironobu Yasuda and Bjorn Wirdheim qualified eighth in their ADVAN KONDO GT-R Nissan GT-R R35, but had a strong race to improve position and cross the finish line fourth. The next Autobacs Super GT race weekend takes place at Sportsland Sugo, Japan, on 30-31 July 2011.
RYDELL CLAIMS FIRST STCC VICTORY Norbert Michelisz topped the class in the opening race at Budapest with a second-placed finish overall, while Javier Villa claimed second with Fredy Barth in third. Franz Engstler secured his debut YOKOHAMA Drivers’ Trophy victory of the season in round eight, finishing above Villa and O’Young to earn the win. Tied with Villa after proceedings at Budapest, Poulsen earned his fourth victory of the season in the first race at Brno with an overall fifth-place finish, fending off competition from Darryl O‘Young who finished seventh. In the final race at Brno, it was Poulsen’s fellow countryman Michel Nykjær who stood proudly on the podium after fifth overall was enough to seal the win ahead of Villa.
YOKOHAMA Trophy 1. Kristian Poulsen (DEN) 2. Javier Villa (ESP) 3. Norbert Michelisz (HUN) 4. Darryl O’Young (CHN) 5. Michel Nykjær (DEN) 6. Franz Engstler (GER) 7. Pepe Oriola (ESP) 8. Mehdi Bennani (MOR)
67 63 53 49 42 34 25 19
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wedish driver Rickard Rydell claimed his first win in the YOKOHAMA-supplied Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) since 2004 at Gothenburg City Race Arena, Sweden, on 18 June 2011. The Chevrolet driver, who raced in the WTCC from 2005-2009, secured pole position with a fastest lap of 47.057 and went on to take victory ahead of fellow countryman Fredrik Ekblom and fellow ex-WTCC racer James Thompson. The following day Richard Göransson lined up on pole for race two after finishing eighth in the first race. He then charged around a wet circuit to take the honours. Tomas Engström crossed the line second with Ekblom completing the podium. The Gothenburg City event follows rounds five and six, which took place at Mantorp Park on 21 May 2011. Ekblom and Jan Nilsson secured victories, with Rydell and Tommy Rustad also making appearances on the podium. Rydell now leads the drivers’ standings by two points from Fredrik Ekblom as the STCC heads to Falkenberg, Sweden, on 2 July 2011.
WTCC STAR DRIVER To read about YOKOHAMA’s WTCC Brno star driver Tom Coronel, please visit www.yokohama-online.com
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YOKOHAMA PARTICIPATION IN 24 HOURS NÜRBURGRING
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MORE YOKOHAMA SUCCESS AT SEPANG
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Grand P rix Marco W de Pau: it to victor man enroute y
Keep up-to-date with the latest YOKOHAMA motorsport action with Track News...the next issue will be available on 19 July 2011. ATS Formel 3 Cup: Tom Blomqvist celebrat es his win at Zolder
lowing RTCC: Mikhaul Ukhov fol y tor his double vic
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i and : Taniguch SUPER GT class the GT300 Bamba win
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