After his participation in the official testing at Monza, young Czech driver Adam Lacko has confirmed during a press conference in Prague, also attended by Radovan Novák, Secretary-General of the Czech motor sport federation, that he will take part in the 2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Lacko, who won the 2002 Škoda Octavia Cup, will enter in the first race meeting at Monza with an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA, prepared in Italy by Oregon Team and run under the banner of the the IEP (Internet Expres Prima) Team. Team Oregon have a wealth of experience with the Super Touring specification Alfa Romeo 156 GTA as they ran three of the cars in last year's FIA ETCC 'Independent's Cup'.

Lacko plans to take part in five more FIA World Touring Car Championship meetings: Magny-Cours, Spa, Oschersleben, Valencia and Macau.

Last week's two test days at the Monza circuit offered up mixed emotions to the twenty one year old Czech driver, who was only able take part in the first session on Tuesday morning at the wheel of the Team Oregon Alfa Romeo 156 GTA.
 

Shortly after the beginning of the day's second session, the car's engine blew and the Alfa had to be withdrawn from the event. However, on the second day Lacko was offered the chance to take part in the final session at the wheel of Carl Rosenblad’s Crawford Racing BMW 320i.

“The test was to focus on the preparations for the with first FIA WTCC meeting,” Lacko explained. "Unfortunately, the car took us by surprise, but in spite of this I think that the times we have attained during the first session, when I was rankiing between the eleventh and twentieth positions of the pack of nearly 30 drivers, are an indication of our potential. It’s a pity that the engine blew.

"In the end I had the opportunity to test the Swedish BMW; the driving technique is naturally different between the two cars, but lap times indicate that they should be equally competitive."