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Once again the
FIA WTCC will meet the fans before a race. Following the
successful event held in London’s Leicester Square to
promote the 5th and 6th rounds held at Silverstone earlier
this month, the KSO has
organised another special event before the 7th and 8th
rounds in Imola this coming weekend.
Tomorrow,
Thursday, will see
five racing cars – Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford and SEAT
– being exhibited in the Piazza Maggiore, from 3.30 to
6.00pm. A group of drivers, including local star Alessandro Zanardi and other leading Italian aces
including Nicola Larini and Alfa Romeo's Fabrizio
Giovanardi, will meet the fans in an autograph session from
4.00 to 5.00pm.
Piazza Maggiore
is the monumental heart of Bologna’s historical centre,
along its perimeter line up some of the city's most important
buildings: the Church of San Petronio, built between the XIV
and the XVIII Centuries, the Palace of the Podestà, built
from 1485, with its Tower of the Communal Assembly, and the d’Accursio Palace, built from 1428, which is also the seat
of the local government.
ELEVEN CARS HAVE
BALLAST ONBOARD
The new FIA WTCC
handicap weight system is becoming more and more effective.
After the first three race meetings of the season, eleven
cars have already been forced to carry varying loads of ballast.
Gabriele Tarquini,
who won the first race in Silverstone and climbed back to
second in the championship classification, will carry the
heaviest handicap: 55 kg. His rivals in the title fight, the
Mullers and Andy Priaulx, will not be much lighter though, as well
as SEAT's leading man Rickard Rydell, who claimed victory in
Race 2 at Silverstone.
PENDING
PENALTIES FOR DIRK MÜLLER AND TARQUINI
The fight for the
FIA WTCC titles is closer than ever after Silverstone. The
top four in the Drivers' Championship are covered by only
five points, and thirteen separate the current leader, Dirk Muller,
from 8th placed Antonio Garcia. In the Manufacturers'
Championship, BMW leads by six points ahead of Alfa Romeo,
while SEAT is only nineteen points behind.
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The Italian Touring Car
Championship runners (top) will for the third this time
this season join the FIA WTCC runners at Imola,
while Augusto Farfus (above) will be looking to
close up on the championship chase in his factory
Alfa Romeo 156 |
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Following the
appearance of the FIA WTCC cars in London's
Leicester Square (top) prior to the last round of
the series at Silverstone, the cars and drivers will
now be presented on the Piazza Maggiore, in the
historical heart of Bologna, tomorrow, prior to the
FIA WTCC's weekend races at Imola |
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At Silverstone Dirk
Muller managed to claim 3 points in the second race, which
enabled him to retain the lead of the championship with a
two point
margin ahead of Tarquini. However the German
driver will be under special surveillance for the rest of
the season. Because he rejoined Saturday's qualifying
session despite having received external aid, and
considering he had already been given a suspended penalty
due to a racing incident in Monza, the Stewards decided to
impose a five point deduction from his championship points.
This penalty will only be applied if he incurs any other
sanctions before the end of the season.
Tarquini also has a
pending penalty because of his collision with Terting in
Race 2 at Silverstone. As well as definitely losing ten
positions on the grid of the first race in Imola, if he is
involved in a similar incident during one of the two
following events, he will also be excluded from that race.
Alfa Romeo Racing Team has time until Sunday to confirm
their appeal against this decision.
BIKE CHAMPIONS
TO RACE ALFA ROMEOS
Three bike champions will face each other in a sprint race
on Sunday. Marco Melandri, the 2002 World Champion in the 250
class, Alex De Angelis and Fausto Gresini, twice
vice-champions in the 125 class, will all compete in a 2-lap
race at the wheel of identical Alfa Romeo 147 Cup cars, just
before the FIA WTCC's first race.
ITALIAN
CHAMPIONSHIP
Like in Monza and Magny-Cours, competitors of the Italian
Superturismo Championship will join the FIA WTCC. This will
raise the field to a total of thirty two cars. After the first two
meetings of the season, Alessandro Zanardi leads the
championship with thirty three points, chased by Salvatore Tavano and
Giuseppe Cirò, who are eight and fifteen points behind respectively.
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