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August 2011 • issue 46
MULLER CLOSES IN AS ENGSTLER DELIGHTS
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he FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) travelled to Oschersleben, Germany, for rounds 15 and 16 of the 2011 season, where Yvan Muller boosted his Drivers’ Championship chase with his fifth win of the year. The reigning WTCC Champion earned pole position in qualifying with a lap time of 1:33.712, ahead of Robert Dahlgren who further enhanced the Volvo’s growing reputation by lapping the 3.696km circuit in 1:34.215. Just as at Donington Park two weeks previously, the heavens opened ahead of Sunday’s races. Chevrolet’s Muller remained undeterred, making a great start while his team-mate and Drivers’ Championship leader Rob Huff passed Dahlgren to take second. Huff pushed Muller during the opening laps until the Briton ran wide, losing valuable time but remaining in second. Meanwhile, Gabriele Tarquini capitalised on Dahlgren making contact with Alain Menu to take third. While Huff eventually caught back up to the race leader, Muller held on to seal his third WTCC victory in succession. Behind them, Tarquini resisted a late attack from Dahlgren to secure the final podium spot. In an action-packed second race, it was Franz Engstler who picked up a shock win. The German made a strong start from pole position to lie second behind Norbert Michelisz, but when the Hungarian racer span out of the lead on lap eight, the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver inherited first place. Despite attention from Chevrolet’s Alain Menu in the closing stages, Engstler took his team’s maiden WTCC win in front of his home crowd. Behind Menu in third was Gabriele Tarquini, who earned his second podium result of the weekend. The WTCC next travels to Valencia, Spain, for the final European round of the season on 3-4 September 2011.
What’s the point Race 1 Result
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Yvan Muller Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Rob Huff Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Sunred SR León 1.6T Gabriele Tarquini Robert Dahlgren Volvo C30 Drive Alain Menu Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Stefano D’Aste BMW 320 TC Michel Nykjær Sunred SR León 1.6T Pepe Oriola Sunred SR León 1.6T
Race 2 Result
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Franz Engstler Alain Menu Gabriele Tarquini Tom Coronel Yvan Muller Rob Huff Robert Dahlgren Tiago Monteiro
BMW 320 TC Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Sunred SR León 1.6T BMW 320 TC Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Volvo C30 Drive Sunred SR León 1.6T
Championship Points
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Rob Huff (GBR) 289 Yvan Muller (FRA) 283 Alain Menu (SUI) 220 Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) 145 Tom Coronel (NED) 137 Tiago Monteiro (POR) 105 Franz Engstler (DEU) 68 Norbert Michelisz (HUN) 66
Race One Race Two
WTCC Jay-Ten
Rob Huff 1:49.734 Tom Coronel 1:36.185
1. Aleksei Dudukalo (RUS) 2. Fabio Fabiani (ITA) 3. Pepe Oriola (ESP)
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Valencia, Spain
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he YOKOHAMA-supplied FIA European Touring Car Cup (ETCC) took place on 24 July 2011 at Austria’s Salzburgring, with former WTCC racer Fabrizio Giovanardi clinching the trophy. The Italian shared a victory and a second-place finish apiece with Spain’s Pepe Oriola, but Giovanardi claimed the overall title courtesy of his pole position in the rain-affected weekend’s qualifying session. In both races, Giovanardi and Oriola were joined on the podium by Sweden’s Tomas Engström in the Honda Accord Euro R.
WTCC Race Lap Record: Dirk Müller 1:43.795 BMW 320i 2 October 2005 2010 Winners: Race 1: Gabriele Tarquini SEAT León TDi Race 2: Tiago Monteiro SEAT León TDi
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GIOVANARDI SCOOPS ETCC HONOURS AHEAD OF ORIOLA
STANAWAY THE RUNAWAY IN AUSTRIA
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ORIMO AND IMPERATORI TOP GT300
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OKOHAMA-shod cars once again dominated the GT300 class when the Autobacs Super GT visited Sugo, Japan, on 31 July 2011. The #14 Lexus IS350 of Ryo Orimo and Alexandre Imperatori claimed the class victory, holding off competition from fellow YOKOHAMA-supplied racers Morio Nitta and Yuji Kunimoto to clinch the win. In the GT500 class, Hironobu Yasuda and Bjorn Wirdheim secured a highly-respectable fourth-place finish in the ADVAN-supplied Nissan GT-R.
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Lap distance: 4.005km Race distance: 2 x 13 laps
ew Zealand’s Richie Stanaway boosted his lead of the YOKOHAMA-supplied ATS Formel 3 Cup courtesy of a stunning double victory at Austria’s Red Bull Ring. Stanaway started his weekend faultlessly, clinching pole position for race one by almost a second ahead of Rene Binder and Hannes Van Asseldonk. The 19-year-old went from strength to strength in race one, taking the win by over four seconds ahead of his championship rival Marco Sörensen and Dutch racer Van Asseldonk. Another pole position followed in the weekend’s second qualifying session, along with a lights to flag victory in race two. Stanaway again bravely fought off competition from Sörensen and Van Asseldonk behind him to cap a perfect weekend at the new circuit. With just six races to go until the end of the season Stanaway, who has won at least once at every meeting so far this year, has extended his lead to 25 points ahead of Sörensen. The series next travels to Germany’s EuroSpeedway Lausitz on 3-4 September 2011.
GORANSSON CLINCHES MEMORABLE DOUBLE
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ENGSTLER’S VICTORY BOOSTS TROPHY BID
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ranz Engstler’s sensational race two victory at Oschersleben boosted his YOKOHAMA Drivers’ Trophy bid, while Stefano D’Aste secured an impressive 18-point haul for Wiechers Sport. D’Aste’s sixth-place finish overall in race one was enough for the class win, while Michel Nykjær and Pepe Oriola joined him on the independents podium. Engstler’s stunning race two victory gave him the YOKOHAMA Drivers’ Trophy victory, eight places ahead of D’Aste who earned second in class. Javier Villa enhanced his growing reputation with third. German racer Engstler is now one of three drivers within two points of leader Norbert Michelisz in the overall YOKOHAMA Drivers’ Trophy standings, as the class prepares for an exciting finish. “First of all I have to say thanks to my team as they did a great job,” said Engstler. “It’s been a glorious day and to win my first WTCC race in front of my home crowd was a fantastic experience."
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he sixth meeting of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship took place at Karlskoga, Sweden on 13 August 2011, with Richard Göransson clinching the first double victory in the STCC since Tommy Rustad’s two triumphs at Våler in 2009. Göransson’s exceptional weekend was launched with a perfect qualifying session, in which the BMW driver secured pole position with a time of 1:07.704, 0.023s faster than Tommy Rustad in second place. The reigning STCC Champion won the opening encounter by a second ahead of Rustad, while championship leader Fredrik Ekblom secured the final podium spot. WestCoast Racing’s Göransson won the second race with a comfortable margin of 2.849 seconds, while Johan Stureson made it two podium visits from two race weekends by taking second ahead of Roger Eriksson. 2009 WTCC Champion Gabriele Tarquini made his debut in the STCC, of which YOKOHAMA is sole tyre supplier, at Karlskoga in the Volvo C30, and despite showing good pace in qualifying, he struggled to 11th and 13th-place finishes. The STCC next visits Jyllandsringen, Denmark, on 27-28 August 2011.
WTCC STAR DRIVER To read about YOKOHAMA’s WTCC star driver from Oschersleben, Pepe Oriola, please visit www.yokohama-online.com
YOKOHAMA Trophy 1. Norbert Michelisz (HUN) 2. Kristian Poulsen (DEN) 3. Darryl O’Young (CHN) 4. Franz Engstler (GER) 5. Javier Villa (ESP) 6. Michel Nykjær (DEN) 7. Pepe Oriola (ESP) 8. Mehdi Bennani (MOR)
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Keep up-to-date with the latest YOKOHAMA motorsport action with Track News... the next issue will be available on 13 September 2011.
Japanes e GT: Or im clinch th e class w o and Imperator i in
WTCC: Race two gets underway
close action ATS Formel 3 Cup: More race one starts at the Red Bull Ring as
WTCC: Engstler se cures his maiden WTCC win
STCC: Clos ec as race on ompetition e starts
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wet ty ection of ll o c A : C ETC rid e damp g next to th