19.02.2004 RAIN AND SNOW HITS THE ETCC TEAMS AS THEY MOVE ON TO TEST AT MAGNY COURS

Yesterday, changeable weather spoiled the first of the two days of testing for the FIA ETCC teams in Magny-Cours. The asphalt changed from very wet in the morning, to completely dry in the late afternoon. However, temperatures remained cold, around 6°C.

In these conditions, lap times improved every time the drivers hit the track. Just before the flag dropped to end the session, Antonio García set the fastest time of the day at the wheel of his Ravaglia Motorsport BMW 320i, the young Spaniard clocked at 1:50.39, meaning an improvement of eight tenths of a second compared to the fastest lap set during the 2003 Race 1 by Jörg Müller at 1:51.21.

García’s fellow countryman Jordi Gené was second fastest in his SEAT Toledo Cupra, with a time of 1:50.82, while third fastest was Jan Magnussen in the Peugeot 307. The Dane completed his best lap in 1:51.42, on the first confrontation of the French car with the regular ETCC competitors.

None of the other drivers who took part in the test managed to obtain significant times. Augusto Farfus and Fabrizio Giovanardi were the fastest Alfa Romeo men (1:52.19 and 1:52.33 respectively), and placed ahead of SEAT’s Frank Diefenbacher (1:52.50). Alessandro Zanardi in the second Ravaglia Motorsport-built BMW was clocked at 1:53.33, and Autodelta’s Gabriele Tarquini closed the time list with a lap in 1:55.55.

The second day today again saw Ravaglia Motorsport driver Antonio García top the timesheets. Raain did not fall again, however the teams missed most of the second day’s morning due to the snow that had fallen all night. Despite the temperatures remaining cold at4/5°C on the asphalt, a pale sun and a strong wind cleared the track, which was completely dry by the early afternoon.

This enabled García to set the fastest time of the test with a lap in 1:49.76, improving by 1.5 seconds the fastest lap time at last year's ETCC rounds. Fabrizio Giovanardi was second-fastest today in the new Alfa Romeo 156 GTA, and the only other driver to break the 1:50 barrier with a time of 1:49.89. His Autodelta team-mate Augusto Farfus was clocked at 1:50.11, only one tenths of a second faster than SEAT Sport’s Jordi Gené (1:50.24).

Third Autodelta pilot and reigning ETCC champion Gabriele Tarquini did not use new tyres, and could not achieve anything faster than a 1:50.72. Jan Magnussen in the Peugeot 307 improved to 1:50.99, a time only 1.2-seconds off the pace, a promising debut for the Danish team. Alessandro Zanardi in the second Ravaglia Motorsport BMW and Frank Diefenbacher in the second SEAT Sport car closed the time list at 1:51.21 and 1:51.43 respectively.