The FIA World Touring Car Championship is now facing its first non-European event, which will take place on 26th June in Puebla, Mexico.

The long trip across the Atlantic is now underway, as 23 containers loaded with 250 tons of cars, tyres and spares, set sail from Bremerhaven last week on board the Mexican vessel TMM Campeche, which is due to arrive in Vera Cruz on June 16th.

The operation, organised by KSO together with Hapag-Lloyd, MSK and the Mexican promoter, and co-ordinated by the FIA WTCC events manager Maurizio Bartolomei, began on Sunday night in Imola, where cars and materials were packed and loaded on 23 trucks for the 1500 km voyage to Bermerhaven. The last leg of 250 km will be covered again by truck, from Vera Cruz to the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Amozoc, where the cars will be delivered on June 19th.

The Autodromo Miguel E. Abed, will see a few changes which in the late stages of the reconstruction works have now fixed the length of the racetrack at 3,032 metres, meaning that race distance for each of the two FIA WTCC rounds will be 17 laps.
 

The Alfa Romeo Racing Team's quartet of factory Alfa 156 drivers, Gabriele Tarquini, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Augusto Farfus Jr and James Thompson, will all be bidding to close the gap to the championship leading BMW pilots, Dirk Muller and Andy Prilux, in Mexico.

After two solid points-scoring finishes in Imola, Dirk Muller has opened out a six point gap to fellow BMW pilot and reigning FIA European Touring Car Champion, Andy Prilaux, the pair having 47 and 41 points respectively. In third place, and seventeen points adrift of the top of the table comes, the first Alfa Romeo driver Gabriele Tarquini, who leads out his team mates Fabrizio Giovanardi, freshly rejuvenated after his Imola win, his first of the year, and Brazilian youngster Augusto Fafus, the trio being covered by just one point. The fourth factory Alfa Romeo driver, James Thompson is slightly further back in ninth place, having gathered 22 points.

In the manufacturers standings BMW have opened out a slight gap to Alfa Romeo (113 points to 100 points) after the Imola round, where the German marque amassed 32 points, seven more than the Italian team managed despite Giovanardi's race one triumph. SEAT are further back in third place on 75 points.

However, for Mexico the weight penalties will swing back in Alfa Romeo's favour. Muller and Prilaux will both have to lug round 60kg, while Giovanardi, courtesy of his strong showing at Imola will carry 50kg, and likewise Farfus have 40kg on board. Tarquini, who was so hampered at Imola, will drop down to 30kg, half the weight of the title chase leaders, while Thompson will have to lug just 10kg.