21.05.2004 Putting the trials of Hockenheim behind them, Alfa Romeo will be looking to bounce back at next weekend's two FIA ETCC races at the famous Brno race track
The FIA European Touring
Car Championship’s 9th and 10th rounds will take place at Brno next weekend.
The Masaryk circuit has been part of the ETCC calendar since the early years,
when it consisted of 14 km (later reduced to 11) of normal roads, through
villages and forests. Between 1968 and 1986, the ETCC raced 17 times on this
difficult and perilous track. In 1987 the new Masaryk permanent racetrack was
opened, and it welcomed the revived ETCC back in 2001, to become again one of
the championship’s regular venues.
In the two most recent seasons, Alfa Romeo and BMW shared wins in Brno: Fabrizio
Giovanardi won both races with the Alfa 156 GTA in 2002, while Dirk Müller and
Andy Priaulx took one apiece for BMW last year.
After the first four
meetings of the season, the fight for the titles is wide open. BMW Team
Deutschland’s boys, Jörg and Dirk Müller, are leading the Drivers’ Championship,
separated by 2 points, but AutoDelta’s reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini is
only seven points behind Jörg. Andy Priaulx, of BMW Team Great Britain, is
fourth, two further points adrift, while Tarquini’s team-mate Fabrizio
Giovanardi is currently 17 points behind.
In the Manufacturers’ Championship BMW has widened the gap in Hockenheim, and
leads Alfa Romeo by 31 points.
The weight handicap situation sees both the Müllers weighted down with 40 kg, while Tarquini and Jordi Gené’s SEAT Toledo will be carrying 10. Therefore Priaulx and Giovanardi, free from ballast for Brno, will have a great opportunity to reduce their gaps.
In the Michelin Independents Trophy, with three race wins and a number of finishes, Carly Motors’ Tom Coronel is still leading the classification with 56 points. The Dutch driver was classified third and second in Hockenheim, stretching his lead to 15 ahead of Proteam’s Stefano D’Aste.
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