James Thompson and the N.Technology Alfa Romeo team will be gunning for more race success when the 7th and 8th rounds of the 2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship take place this weekend in France, on the historical street circuit of Pau. Following Thompson's stunning clean sweep in Valencia a fortnight ago - pole position and two wins - the revitalised Italian team are heading to Pau in a buoyant frame of mind.

This is the championship’s first visit to the old city on the Pyrenées, home of the Grand Prix de Pau since 1930. From the 1935 edition the track has not been changed – it is the oldest street circuit in activity – and has seen victories of many famous aces such as Etancelin, Nuvolari, Lang, Fangio, Ascari, Behra, Trintignant, Brabham, Clark, Rindt, Stewart, Cevert, Depailler, Arnoux, Cecotto, Alesi, Montoya. In 1947 Pau hosted the first Grand Prix held after the end of World War II, won by Nello Pagani’s Maserati. After many years of Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3000, this 67th edition of the Grand Prix de Pau is the first one to qualify as a round of a World Championship. A few WTCC drivers have already raced at Pau in their single seater years, but only one of them won the Grand Prix: Jörg Müller, in the 1996 F3000 race.

This weekend at Pau the FIA WTCC qualifying will be held for the first time on the extended duration of 45 minutes, from 3.00 to 3.45 pm. This means an extra 15 minutes compared to the usual 30. Longer qualifying sessions will also take place later in the season at Porto and Macau. This change has been introduced in order to limit the problems that might occur on street circuits, like last year in Macau, when two red flags and a shower permitted the drivers to complete only two attempts for posting a qualifying lap.

After running without ballast thus far this year Thompson will have to lug 30 kg in his Alfa 156 as a consequence of his double victory in Spain. However this is less than the main title contenders starting with Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx, in the joint lead of the Drivers' Championship after three events, who will carry 55 kilos of handicap weight each in Pau, only five shy of the maximum applicable. Also with more weight to carry than Thompson will be Nicola Larini (currently 4th in the classification), Augusto Farfus (3rd) and Gabriele Tarquini (5th), will be given 45, 40 and 35 extra kilos respectively.

Thompson may also be boosted after qualifying by the fact that Farfus (BMW Team Germany) and Tarquini (SEAT Sport) have been given a 10 position drop on the starting grid for the first race, as the Stewards judged them responsible for causing two avoidable collisions in Valencia's Race 1. Tarquini caused the pile-up at the start that eliminated six cars including his own, while in the late stages of the same race Farfus was involved in a clash with Tom Coronel and Stefano D'Aste, while they were fighting for the 10th position. Recovering from their handicaps on Pau's infamous street circuit won't be an easy task for them.