Vallelunga has hosted Alfa Romeo and BMW FIA WTCC teams for a three-day test. From Friday to Sunday Alfa Romeo Racing, BMW Team Germany and BMW Team Italy-Spain covered a great deal of laps around the circuit located near to Rome.

The Alfa Romeo team ran a single Alfa 156 car. Brazilian youngster Augusto Farfus – who had claimed his first WTCC victory in Macau on last November – took the wheel in the first two days and was then replaced by Gianni Morbidelli on the third day. The former F1 Italian driver is currently negotiating with Alfa Romeo to join the team in the 2006 FIA WTCC campaign.

Yong Brazilian Augusto Farfus Jr, who is very highly rated by the team, is the only one of last years Alfa Romeo FIA WTCC quartet to have been retained: Fabrizio Giovanardi has joined GM/Vauxhall to contest the BTCC, while Gabriele Tarquini and James Thompson have both signed up with SEAT in the FIA WTCC.
 

Giovanardi though has remained involved with Alfa Romeo, testing on occasion before Christmas, and could still undertake a limited FIA WTCC programme contesting only the rounds that don't clash with his British Touring Car Championship commitments. Meanwhile, Morbidelli who was considered by the team a couple of seasons ago, could either fill in when Giovanardi is unavailable, or as would he prefer, to contest a full season. Former F1 driver Mika Salo has also reportedly been involved in negotiations for a seat with the N.Technology run team.

BMW Team Germany and BMW Team Italy-Spain also tested two brand new 320is E90 machines each at the same time as Alfa Romeo were on track. Dirk and Jörg Müller were driving the German team’s cars, with the former focusing on suspension and aerodynamics whereas the latter was charged to test the 4-cylinder engine’s latest step. “It looks like the new car has a lot of potential. It is more precise compared to last year’s model. It is quite an interesting challenge for us, because we are developing the WTCC version from scratch, whereas the S2000 E46 car was developed starting from the Super Production version,” said Jörg.

BMW Team Italy-Spain lined-up Alessandro Zanardi in their first car and alternated two young Spaniards – Marcel Costa and Ander Vilariño – in the second one. In the next days the team will choose Zanardi’s new team-mate among the two of them.