The WTCC Returns To Sonoma Raceway This Weekend, 9/7-8!

[Brock Beard]

Big Thanks to RepoMan for giving this thread a thumbs-up. For any of you who can be in the Bay Area this weekend, I highly recommend the race we have in store this weekend in Sonoma!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG-hKXIAujY[/youtube]

The FIA World Touring Car Championship Returns To The Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California this weekend, September 7-8, 2013!

Hello! My name is Brock Beard and I am the Official Online Insider for the Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. I am very excited to be on board to help promote the upcoming WTCC event at our road course during September 7-8! It's a very special event that offers unprecedented access - each ticket starts at just $20, which includes both a free garage pass and general admission to any of the grandstands at our facility!



I attended the inaugural event last year and was thrilled by the level of competition as well as the access fans have to the drivers and teams themselves. We had a good turnout that weekend, and we are working toward an even better attendance this year.



Most of my past work is tied with NASCAR. Tops among them is my website LASTCAR, which features weekly articles about the last-place finishers of stock car racing’s top three divisions. I published my first two LASTCAR books on Amazon earlier this year. I’ve also made a number of radio appearances on RaceTalkRadio.com and SiriusXM’s Manifold Destiny. For years, I also produced a series of starting grid videos for races on YouTube. My videos have been featured in both the 2012 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and, most recently, this past June’s NASCAR race in Sonoma as part of the event’s Silver Celebration.



I’m a relative newcomer to the WTCC - I started following the series last year when I first heard that my home track would be hosting the series’ first appearance in the United States. I had fond memories of watching the BTCC on the old Speedvision network, so when I heard that drivers like Gabriele Tarquini and Alain Menu were competing, I made sure to circle the date on my calendar. I’m particularly pleased this year that James Thompson will be making his Sonoma debut and that Charles Ng, who has a residence here in the Bay Area, will have another chance to score points on our track.



Thank you for your attention. In the days ahead, I will be providing additional inside information in the lead-up to race weekend. I will also be poking around this forum, so if you have any questions about the event or any other news, don’t hesitate to post here or drop me a PM.

In the meantime, here is the weekend schedule. For ticketing information, be sure to check out this link!

[Brock Beard]

To begin, I’ve included the following biographies introducing the top drivers of each of the five manufacturers that will be represented in the race at Sonoma.

First, Chevrolet races the Cruze, a model that has dominated the series in recent years with champions Yvan Muller and Rob Huff. BMW campaigns the 320TC, a racing version of the 320si updated last year with a kit from BMW Motorsport. Spanish manufacturer SEAT races the compact Léon. The Honda Civic returned to FIA competition this year for the first time since Honda pulled out of Formula One. Most unique is Russian manufacturer LADA, which introduced its small Granta Sport model this year.

All the cars are the four-door two-wheel drive models which run a 1.6 liter turbocharged engine with a six-speed sequential gearbox.


#1
Driver: Rob Huff
Born: December 25, 1979 - Cambridge, United Kingdom
Manufacturer: SEAT León WTCC
Team: ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Teammates: #37-René Münnich, #38-Marc Basseng
WTCC Wins: 24
Most Recent Win: 2013 - Hungary Round 8
Current Points Position: 5th (-173 behind leader, -7 behind 4th)
Best 2013 Finish: 1st (Hungary Round 8)
2012 Sonoma Finishes: 2nd, 1st

Known as “Huffy” to his fans, the 2000 Formula Vauxhall Champion and 2003 SEAT Cupra Champion scored two wins in the British Touring Car Championship before he moved to the WTCC during the debut season in 2005. In the seven years since, he has racked up 24 victories, second-most among this year’s field, trailing only his former Chevrolet teammate Yvan Muller. He is one of just four active drivers to have competed in every WTCC season since 2005, joining Gabriele Tarquini, Tom Coronel, and Stefano D’Aste.

This season, Huff left Chevrolet’s factory team for Spanish manufacturer SEAT and the three-car ALL-INKL team owned by owner-driver René Münnich. Huff started last in the field for the season opener in Italy, then rallied to a 6th place finish despite horrendous wet conditions. While running 3rd in Morocco’s Round 4, he pulled a banzai move into the last corner of the first lap, but ended up locking up his brakes so hard that he lost a half-dozen spots and pulled into pit road. In Round 5 at Slovakia, he ran wide in the first corner on Lap 4, but barely managed to get back on track. His lone victory this year came on the Hungaroring, where he prevailed in a tight battle with the BMW of Mehdi Bennani. In Round 9, he also made a dramatic save after contact from James Thompson on Lap 9, holding onto the 7th spot in the process. In Round 16 in Argentina, Huff broke a right-front wheel on Lap 7 and slid off course, ending up last in the field.

Coming into the Sonoma race last year, Huff was just 17 points behind Muller for the championship lead. Both drivers claimed a victory that weekend. Huff’s came at the cost of Muller, who suffered a drive-through penalty for spinning Franz Engstler from the lead, and they left the race tied for the point lead. At season’s end, it was Huff who claimed the title, the first of his career. Following his early exit in Argentina, the defending driver’s champion comes into Sonoma this year 5th in points, 173 points behind Muller, but is hungry to claim his second victory of the season.


#3
Driver: Gabriele Tarquini
Born: March 2, 1962 - Giulianova, Italy
Manufacturer: Honda Civic WTCC
Team: Castrol Honda WTC Team
Teammate: #18-Tiago Monteiro
WTCC Wins: 18
Most Recent Win: 2013 - Slovakia Round 5
Current Points Position: 3rd (-146 behind leader, -14 behind 2nd)
Best 2013 Finish: 1st (Slovakia Round 5)
2012 Sonoma Finishes: 4th, 3rd

A Formula One racer for six different teams in 38 career starts, a champion in both the British and European Touring Car Series, and the 2009 WTCC Champion, Tarquini is the oldest and most experienced driver in the series today. Tarquini left the Lukoil Racing Team after 2012 to drive for Honda as the Lukoil team switched from Spanish manufacturer SEAT to LADA, a Russian mark. Tarquini and his Honda had a great start to the 2013 season with a 4th and a 3rd in the first two races in Monza, followed by a runner-up finish in Round 3 in Morocco. In the next race, he was running in the points on the street course when he went off-line through a chicane on Lap 9 and rammed a rogue curb on the exit, sending him sliding into Alex MacDowall and taking both out of the race.

Tarquini rebounded in Round 5 to take the win in Slovakia, leading teammate Tiago Monteiro in the Honda team’s first 1-2 finish. In Round 8 in Hungary, he suffered a spectacular crash on the opening lap, catching air as he was turned into a tire barrier, then bounced into the path of Franz Engstler’s BMW, taking both cars out of the running. In Round 13 in Portugal, Tarquini was running in the 4th spot on Lap 8 when a burnt turbo sent out a huge plume of smoke, taking him out of the race once more. He managed just a 20th place finish in Round 14, slipping from from 2nd to 5th in points. In Round 15 in Argentina, Tarquini was running 3rd on the first lap when he ran off-course near the end of the first lap and slipped to 7th by the stripe. He rallied to finish 4th in that race and in Round 16, and he again finds himself 3rd in the standings headed to Sonoma. Now 14 points behind 2nd place Michel Nykjær, Tarquini looks to close the gap even tighter these final eight races, starting in the Napa Valley.


#7 (Y)
Driver: Charles Kaki Ng
Born: August 1, 1984 - Hong Kong
Manufacturer: BMW 320 TC
Team: Liqui Moly Team Engstler
Teammate: #6-Franz Engstler
WTCC Wins: 0
Current Points Position: 21st (-311 behind leader, -3 behind 20th)
Best 2013 Finish: 10th (Morocco Round 4)
2012 Sonoma Finishes: 15th, 21st (DSQ)

One of the most personable drivers on the circuit is third-year driver Charles Ng, who took the unusual path through the world of professional drifting, including two years of the Formula D Pro Championship and one with Evasive Motorsports. After scoring the 2010 Asian Touring Car Championship, followed by a successful run through the Pacific tour late in the 2011 WTCC season, sponsor Liqui Moly upped its support, scoring Ng a ride as Franz Engstler’s teammate in the BMW camp. Though Ng has improved in this, his second season on the tour, including an outside-pole in Russia’s Round 12, early crashes have kept him down in the standings.

Sonoma, with its short straightaways and tight turns, offers the opportunity for retribution as Ng was running in the points last year before a controversial black flag for a loose bumper left him at the tail end of the field. This year, Ng and Engstler look to turn some heads in the Napa Valley.


#10
Driver: James Thompson
Born: April 26, 1974 - York, United Kingdom
Manufacturer: LADA Granta Sport
Team: LADA Sport Lukoil
Teammate: #8-Mikhail Kozlovskiy
WTCC Wins: 4
Most Recent Win: 2008 - Imola Round 18
Current Points Position: 15th (-283 behind leader, -6 behind 14th)
Best 2013 Finish: 5th (Russia Round 11)
2012 Sonoma Finishes: FIRST SONOMA START

A two-time champion of both the European Touring Car Cup and the British Touring Car Championship, two of the seven series in which he’s competed since 1994, Thompson has one of the most impressive resumes in the WTCC garage. He won one of the first WTCC races ever run at Monza in 2005 and now runs for Russia’s LADA team, a program he helped develop on a part-time basis in 2009 and 2012. Following his disastrous run-in with then-teammate Aleksei Dudukalo in Monza, he bounced back with a 10th in Morocco and has made every race since.

The 2013 season has been a physical one, but the LADA has carried Thompson to four top-ten finishes in his last eight starts, including a season-best 5th in Russia’s Round 11. Looking for more in Round 12, he pulled a dramatic four-wide pass on the main straightaway, making full use of the run-off as he swung to the outside of Gabriele Tarquini, Tom Coronel, and Rob Huff. Something had to give, and unfortunately a tangle between Tarquini and Coronel stuffed Thompson into the outside wall, ending his race. Though he struggled in the series’ most recent race in Argentina, falling out of both races, his 6th-place runs at the equally challenging street course in Portugal may indicate a good run for him on Sonoma’s road course.


#12
Driver: Yvan Muller
Born: August 16, 1969 - Altkirch, France
Manufacturer: Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
Team: RML
Teammate: #23-Tom Chilton
WTCC Wins: 36
Most Recent Win: 2013 - Argentina Round 15
Current Points Position: 1st (leading by 132 points over 2nd)
Best 2013 Finish: 1st (Italy Round 1, Italy Round 2, Hungary Round 7, Russia Round 11, Portugal Round 13, Argentina Round 15)
2012 Sonoma Finishes: 1st, 14th

Dominant in a way few drivers have ever accomplished, Muller has become the gold standard in the WTCC. After racking up 36 wins in the British Touring Car Series from 1998 through 2005, including the 2003 championship, Muller made the move to the WTCC and picked up right where he left off. He’s scored another 36 wins in that time, including three of the last five championships, and he’s leading by an impressive margin on his way to title number four. With a series-leading six race wins this season, including the year’s only weekend sweep in the rain-soaked opener in Italy, “The Teflon Man” now leads by 132 points.

Muller has been so dominant in 2013 that his 13th-place finish earlier this month in Argentina - which could have been a 2nd-place finish but for a penalty for punting Tiago Montiero out of 2nd on Lap 5 - was his first finish worse than 7th since last season in China, eighteen races ago. Fresh off his sixth win of the season back in Argentina for Round 15, Muller storms into Sonoma, where he nearly pulled the sweep in 2012 before he was again penalized for spinning Franz Engstler from the lead in Round 18.

Next year, Muller will be driving for Citroën in the French make’s first-ever start in the series. It could spell trouble for the rest of the field - his teammate will be Sébastien Loeb, who’s been equally untouchable in the World Rally Championship the last nine years.

(Y) indicates the driver is a contender for the Yokohama Cup, an additional championship reserved for the WTCC's independent drivers.

[Brock Beard]

Recently, we were visited by BMW driver Charles Kaki Ng for a photo shoot in anticipation of his return to Sonoma for Rounds 17 and 18 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship.



Since our race weekend will also include demonstrations by Evasive Motorsports and Yokohama Formula Drift, we invited Ng, who has several years’ experience in drifting, to give us a taste of what to expect on race weekend. Climbing aboard a race-prepared Scion carrying several GoPro cameras from our video producer, Ng proceeded to put on a clinic around the twisting Sonoma road course.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPXARcIJDt8[/youtube]
-Click here to see Charles burn rubber at the Sonoma Raceway!



Afterwards, Ng discussed some of his future plans, including starting his own signature tuning company in China.

SONOMA RACEWAY:
Are you working on developing your own brand?

CHARLES NG:
We’re starting with my signature tuning. So I’m going to start off with some normal tuning and later on I want to do more track cars. And in the end, I want to have my own tuning brand, but that’s a few years down the road, so I’m starting small. You never know how long your career is in racing, so you need something to keep going. Actually, I want to open a shop back in China.

SONOMA RACEWAY:
Is that a big market in China?

CHARLES NG:
Yes and no. There’s a small group of people with a lot of money who can spend a lot on tuning, but they don’t have the right mentality for it. They don’t understand tuning, they don’t know what it’s all about. So maybe we can educate them more when we have a successful shop, then we have more credibility and we can bring more stuff over. Right now, it’s just building the name.

SONOMA RACEWAY:
A lot of people do it more for money, is that how it is?

CHARLES NG:
And a lot of them don’t know how to do it. They need someone who can educate them about tuning. They have shops called a 4-S shop, like a one-stop shop for everything. So you buy the car, you service the car there, the car breaks down you bring it back. And whenever there’s a small squeaking noise in the brake system, they change out the whole thing - brand new everything. If there’s a small noise in the gearbox, they change out the whole gearbox. They don’t even diagnose the problem, like test on a dyno, they change the whole thing whenever they see anything.

We also talked with Charles about how he got his start in the WTCC and some of the challenges the series presents.



SONOMA RACEWAY:
How did you get into the WTCC? Is there a lot of crossover between the series and drifting?

CHARLES NG:
No, not at all. In 2010, I was doing the Asian Touring Car and that year I won the overall championship. I was hoping to get a ride somewhere, but because the gap between the Asian Touring Car and the World (WTCC) is just too big a gap, I thought about going over to run BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) or something, but I couldn’t find a budget to do it.

So I sat out for the whole season in 2011 so I did some drifting in the States - I did Formula Drift. But in Formula Drift I had an old car, and the car always breaks, and I did okay, but not too bad. But it was a problem. And so I figured I really wanted to either build a new car for drifting or move on to racing. And in the middle of the year I met with my current sponsor (Liqui Moly) and they helped me with three (WTCC) races at the end of 2011 - three races in Asia, the Japan round, the China round, and the Macau round for the WTCC. And I did very well in Shanghai, I got a Top Ten, I got 10th place.

And so I picked up the sponsor for the year after, so in 2012 I signed on with the German team for the whole season, that’s how I started my career in the WTCC. And this is my second year. It’s really tough racing because, not only the cars are different, but the drivers are some of the best, so it’s definitely not easy. I’m always having good fights with my teammate (Franz Engstler) nowadays. Last year, I was a little slower than him. This year, for the most part, I’m faster, so I’m happy about that because he used to be a very fast driver from Germany - he used to race in DTM, the Opel factory team, so it’s an honor to be up there with him.

But still the BMW is struggling this year because we’re lacking in straightline speed. The Chevys have more power than us, even the SEAT has more power. Honda still has more power than us. Because BMW Motorsports stopped supporting us two years ago before I got to the WTCC. There was a works BMW team, so they would support the customer teams or the privateers. But since two years ago, the works team pulled out of the WTCC, so we’re left without any factory support from BMW. That’s the hard part. When you don’t have factory support, you don’t get the new technology, the new developments, and stuff like that. So we’re always using the old equipment versus the new technology. It’s just like Formula One. You always have to keep moving forward. If you stop at some place, then people are going to overtake you.

But I think this track we might have a chance because there aren’t so many long straightaways.

SONOMA RACEWAY:
So it’s much more of a technical track?

CHARLES NG:
Yeah, definitely. That’s why I did so well last year. Except for the fact I got black-flagged (for a loose rear bumper). I was fighting for 10th place, so if all goes well this year, we’ll see. So I’m looking forward to it.

Get your tickets today for the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the Sonoma Raceway, September 7-8!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhTXJU74t0c[/youtube]
- Click here to watch more of Charles’ interview with our Sonoma Raceway staff!

[Brock Beard]

And, ladies and gentlemen, it’s race week here at the Sonoma Raceway as we brace for the onslaught that is the World Touring Car Championship!





It’s been a wild 2013 season for the WTCC. After the breaking-up of the Chevrolet factory team in late 2012, both Honda and Lada entered the series for their first full-time seasons, resulting in fierce competition all through the field. Yvan Muller may lead the point standings, but runner-up Michel Nykjaer is one of four different drivers who have stood atop the podium for the first time this season.

This weekend, the series roars into Northern California, where two more rounds at the Sonoma Raceway confront twenty-four of the world’s best touring car drivers.

Last year, the Sonoma wins went to then-teammates Yvan Muller and Robert Huff, the two principals in the 2012 championship battle. Muller took the first race, but when he turned the lapped BMW of Mehdi Bennani, a pit road penalty handed the win to Huff. The two were the tied in the point standings after their adventure in the Napa Valley, but in the end, it was Huff taking his first World Championship in his eighth season.

This year, Muller’s on cruise control, nursing a devastating 139 point lead over Nykjær and the rest of the field, but change is on the horizon. Next year, Muller will join the new Citroen team along with Sébastien Loeb, whose matched Muller’s domination in the World Rally Championship.

Speaking of new manufacturers, watch out for Team LADA Sport Lukoil. Veteran James Thompson and rookie driver Mikhail Kozlovskiy are two of seven drivers who will be making their first touring car starts here at the Sonoma Raceway. But Thompson is by no means a newcomer. A two-time champion in both the British Touring Car Championship and the European Touring Car Cup, Thompson looks to make a statement by giving his Russian manufacturer its first podium finish and Thompson’s first win the WTCC in five years.

And, rest assured, this is a race where the underdogs could wreak havoc on the regulars. During an interview with BMW driver Charles Ng of Liqui Moly Team Engstler, the driver noted that the Sonoma Raceway has the shortest straightaways of any course on the WTCC circuit, putting a premium on a driver’s technical ability around the tricky track. In a sport where five different manufacturers are fighting for supremacy, that could add yet another twist to the complexion of the race weekend, September 7-8.

The drivers are here, the cars are on their way to the paddock behind Turn 12, and we are all making final preparations for this weekend’s festivities.

Click here to see some of the Twitter posts from the starters in this year’s field!


Or follow the WTCC racers individually at their pages:
Rob Huff - No. 1 SEAT
Norbert Michelisz - No. 5 Honda
Charles Kaki Ng - No. 7 BMW
Yvan Muller - No. 12 Chevrolet
James Nash - No. 14 Chevrolet
Tom Coronel - No. 15 BMW
Michel Nykjaer - No. 17 Chevrolet
Tiago Monteiro - No. 18 Honda
Fernando Monje - No. 19 SEAT
Tom Boardman - No. 22 SEAT
Tom Chilton - No. 23 Chevrolet
Stefano D’Aste - No. 26 BMW
Darryl O’Young - No. 55 BMW
Fredy Barth - No. 73 BMW
Pepe Oriola - No. 74 Chevrolet

[Brock Beard]

Look what just got unpacked from the shipping containers in the paddock yesterday. It's Christmas in September!

[Brock Beard]

Not caught up yet on the 2013 World Touring Car Championship Season? No need to worry - several YouTube users have posted the entire season on YouTube. And with each race running between nine and fifteen laps, there’s still plenty of time to see all the action.

Just like this Sunday at Sonoma, the series runs two sprint races at each track it visits. The first race begins with a rolling start while the second uses a classic Formula One-style standing start.

Check out some of these videos to see the sights and sounds of the world’s best Touring Car drivers!

Round 1: Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy)
Round 2: Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy)
The season-opening rounds take place in a driving rain on one of the series’ most famous circuits.

Round 3: Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan (Morocco)
Round 4: Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan (Morocco)
A tight street course with long straightaways and sudden, narrow chicanes proves difficult for some competitors.

Round 5: Automotodróm Slovakia Ring (Slovakia)
Round 6: Automotodróm Slovakia Ring (Slovakia)
Long, sweeping corners and deep gravel traps make for tight racing and late braking.

Round 7: Hungaroring (Hungary) - Hungarian commentary
Round 8: Hungaroring (Hungary)
Fourteen tight turns on a bumpy surface provides a unique challenge.

Round 9: Salzburgring (Austria)
Round 10: Salzburgring (Austria)
Blindingly fast, this track puts a premium on drafting down its many long straightaways.

Round 11: Moscow Raceway (Russia)
Round 12: Moscow Raceway (Russia)
The inaugural event on this track provided some of the most exciting racing of the season.

Round 13: Circuito da Boavista (Portugal)
Round 14: Circuito da Boavista (Portugal)
More tight racing and hard hits on this picturesque street circuit.

Round 15: Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo (Argentina)
Round 16: Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo (Argentina)
Another new track on the circuit, this sprawling road course provided some big surprises and a potential rivalry that could be settled in Sonoma.

[Brock Beard]

I made it to the track a little while after the drivers turned a few laps and got a few good pictures of new liveries for this weekend:

GoPro on the bamboo-engineering Chevrolets:

Stefano D'Aste's American flag paint job:

A new sponsor on Pepe Oriola's Chevrolet:


(more pictures posted on my Twitter page - @LASTCARonBROCK)

In the paddock, I came across both Yvan Muller and Michel Nykjaer on their way to a media event at the nearby Viansa Winery. A good crowd was on hand, including several more familiar faces:



Everyone was very easy to talk to, especially Tom Coronel who repeated his famous line from earlier this season "I don't need luck - all I need is money and sex." Coronel's invited me to have coffee in the garage tomorrow. Tom Boardman was equally friendly when I talked with him about the progress of his team.

I also interviewed Darryl O'Young, Tom Chilton, and Gabriele Tarquini. I will transcribe those interviews when I return to the track tomorrow.

[Brock Beard]

I spoke with several drivers during yesterday’s media appearance at the Viansa Winery in Sonoma. I asked them about how their season has been going, their views of the Sonoma Raceway, and the future of the WTCC as new regulations and a new car arrive in 2014:


Darryl O’Young - No. 55 BMW

ON HIS SEASON FAR:
The World Touring Car is a fantastic championship. We’ve had a lot of good races. I’ve had a little bad luck this season, just haven’t been able to get the results together, but the pace has been good and the car is strong. We struggle a bit with top speed on most of the circuits, which is one of the problems with BMW, but that’s great with Sonoma, it’s a track without a lot of long straights.

ON SONOMA RACEWAY:
Generally, we find this track compared to other circuits to have low grip, which makes the cars slide around quite a bit, and of course the heat doesn’t help the tires at all, but actually with the rear-wheel cars we don’t mind that at all because the front-wheel drive cars struggle more when they have heat in the tires. Their front tires start to struggle when they brake and corner with the front tires. Especially on a circuit like this where it’s tight and twisty and we have some corners that are slower than others. Of all the circuits this year, this is our best hope to get a good result:

ON NEXT SEASON:
It’s an exciting season next year. There’s a lot of changes happening. And that comes with a lot of uncertainty. Many championships that change regulations and things leads to a lot of uncertainty about which cars will be quick, which cars will be fastest, and how it will affect the championship. There’s a lot of discussions going on how to secure the grid to find a good place for everybody, especially the independents and the manufacturer’s trophy. There’s a lot of discussions going on which is very exciting, a lot of talk.

ON THE FUTURE OF THE WTCC:
I think, in reality, 2015 is going to be an amazing year. 2014 will be a year of change and development, and that will lead to a very, very strong future. There’s a mix of what manufacturers will get involved, which ones will pull out. There’s not much talk about BMW continuing in the championship, and then there’s Chevrolet and Citroen are continuing to be very strong. There’s a lot of turnover in manufacturers. The reason why it may be not as competitive (in 2014) is in 2015 is there’s a lot more manufacturers coming in. So this is where the championship can grow.

ON ROAL MOTORSPORT:
I’m still an independent, (but) this is the first year I’ve raced for ROAL Motorsport. Tom (Coronel) has been racing for ROAL for many years. So, yes, as an independent this year’s been very tough. The Chevrolets have been very strong. The leader in the independent’s championship (Michel Nykjær) is 2nd overall. Michel’s had a very good year. We’re working from race to race, and I think Sonoma is a really good opportunity to try and make a good result for the year.


Gabriele Tarquini - No. 3 Honda

ON FRIDAY’S PRACTICE:
We tested today. I like the track today. I discovered the track last year, when it was the first time for everybody, and I’m very pleased to be back. I love this type of track, up and downhill, change directions, it’s a very challenging track. Very technical. Speed is not very important, but chassis and setup is very important. Today was very hot, tomorrow will be even hotter than today, so it’s changed a little bit from last year in temperature. And with our tires, I think we will have some problems finishing the race.

ON HONDA’S PERFORMANCE IN 2013:
I’m quite happy about the season because it was our first season. It’s a very tough championship to beat the Chevys. But I won once, scored two pole positions. I’m fighting for the Top Three in the championship. We’re struggling a little bit at the fast tracks, so maybe the characteristics of the Sonoma track can better fit our car.

ON THE FUTURE OF THE WTCC:
We will change rules next season, the car will be completely different from this season. Engine power, we will have at least 40 or 50 more horsepower. The size will be a little bit wider - the car seems much sexier.


Tom Chilton - No. 23 Chevrolet

ON HIS SEASON SO FAR:
It’s my first year with Chevrolet and my second in the World Touring Cars. Another American manufacturer, last year I was with Ford and this year with Chevrolet, and it’s good to be back in Sonoma. It’s been the best year for me so far in the World Touring Cars. Most rounds I’ve got a 2nd or a 3rd. Sadly, haven’t had the first yet. I’d love to say it’s going to be here, but if I’m honest, I think the extra ballast which we carry between 40 and 60 kg heavier than the rest of the cars will hurt us on this circuit. I ran around this circuit on Thursday, and when you start running up these hills, if you have to carry an extra bit of weight it really hurts you on the stopwatch. And it hurts the tires as well. The race will be quite hard work for us. But I love this circuit.

And this year for me has been fantastic. I’ve had a few races with some bad luck and I’m 6th in the World Championship - things haven’t gone my way and I’m still 6th in the championship. It’s very close points. Between me and 4th is literally one good race. And if I have a few good races I can get up to 3rd or 2nd in the World Championship. It’s still here for me to grab, I just need to make no mistakes and grab them.

ON THE WEIGHT ADDED TO CHEVROLETS THIS SEASON:
We’ve been the same weight all year, but at the other circuits it doesn’t really hurt us. But at this circuit, it will hurt us, the weight. The SEAT is going to be 50 kg lighter than us, the Honda’s 30 kg lighter than us, and the LADA is 60 kg lighter than us. The BMWs will be very good at the end of the race, they’re 50 kg lighter than us. It should be a very exciting race. In qualifying I’m hoping we can get on the front row, but we need a little bit of luck behind us I think because Tiago (Monteiro, Honda driver) - they’re fast.

ON FRIDAY’S SHAKEDOWN PRACTICE:
We had a half hour session today (Friday) and it was Tiago Monteiro in first and then (Rob) Huff in the SEAT in 2nd and Pepe Oriola in the Chevrolet in 3rd and I was in 4th. I was a couple tenths off. Two tents slower, how’d you gain that? 20 kilos off. I think the hardest place for us is Turn 1 into Turn 2. There’s a bit of a bump which makes it quite fun when you drift. But you’re trying to do the same thing every lap, as any top racing driver is today. We’re all perfectionists - we like to do every lap within a tenth of a second. But just because of this one bump, it’s very hard to do the same lap time every lap. And that’s really frustrated. And in a race, it leaves an opening for someone to overtake you. And you can’t make mistakes - you leave an opening and someone overtakes you. I think the first corner’s the most important one on the circuit. You got that one, you usually get the rest of them.

ON CHEVROLET COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE FIELD:
I think the Chevrolet is designed - the chassis is itself designed for fast, long corners. And the actual shape of the car is designed for very long straights. So if you have a course with nice, long straights and long, flowing corners, Chevrolet is the best by a longshot. But this circuit doesn’t have any flat, long corners. You have downhill corners, but it doesn’t have any long, flat corners, and it doesn’t have any long straights, and when you do have a long straight it’s up a steep hill where the weight hurts us. So it really does not help us at all. It’s the one circuit where it’s going to hurt us.

Last year, the Chevrolet won here, but only just - the SEAT finished just on their bumper last year, they were the same weight. This year, they’re 50 kg lighter. So they have that advantage this year from last year. But we might be able to pull something out of the bag in qualifying - we just hook everything up perfectly and they don’t, we can still beat them, so it’s down to driver. But the race is very much hanging onto the tires - it’s 15 laps around here, which is a lot of laps.

ON 2014 AND BEYOND:
My number one thing is I want to stay in the World Touring Car Championship. Look at us - we’re standing in very cool California with a cool view, drinking red wine and doing this. It’s almost the same as Formula One in that sort of way in terms of the pace we’re going. I want to stay here, I want to stay at RML because I think they’re the best team, very professional team. We’re trying to find sponsors, manufacturers - nothing signed or sealed yet. Still working on lots of things. Still going to be three manufacturers next year - LADA, Honda, and Citroën - there will be between fifteen and twenty new cars next year, which is a lot. I think the price of the cars is probably going to go up, which means you’ve got to find new sponsors. I think the championship’s level now with the TV coverage it’s getting and the type of places we go to. And with a bit of hard work, we can do it. And when there’s a lot of meetings going on, when there’s a lot of work to do, that’s just part of motorsport.

[Brock Beard]

As the World Touring Car Championship’s Pacific tour continues from our Sonoma Raceway to the final six races of the season in Japan and China, I have a few more trackside notes from Sunday’s festivities:


Charles Ng spinning off-track in Race 2

While walking down pit road, I was able to do a couple more quick interviews just before the grid cleared for Race 1:


Stefano D’Aste
No. 26 BMW

ON HIS RED-WHITE-AND-BLUE DRIVER’S UNIFORM
“Captain America. Yes, last year was Uncle Sam and this year, with OMP, we decided to change it. I always do it the same, you know, make something funny for the fans and so on. It comes from crazy ideas to make something different.”




ON HIS RACE WEEKEND
“I don’t know, from the last two or three races we have a problem, and we try to test on Thursday on the drag racing track to solve the problem. But we didn’t find the problem. I don’t know, we had some problem in performance, and I don’t know what it is. It could be the high-pressure pump of the fuel, but we tried to change it, and it changed a lot, but the problem came back. It seems to be something electronic, probably in the wiring system. We don’t understand why. Yesterday morning, we very, very, quick, and in the second practice we weren’t quick.”

ON TIRE ISSUES
“The tires are okay because the setup of the car is okay. The handling is good, but problems with the performance of the car, the engine probably.”

(Despite his concerns, D’Aste finished in the points during both Sonoma races with his third-straight 10th-place finish and sixth Top Ten in his last eight starts)


Pepe Oriola
No. 74 Chevrolet

ON ANY ISSUES WITH CHEVROLET CARRYING EXTRA WEIGHT:
“No, I think that all the Chevys run at the same level, the setup of the car, the balance of the car. So I think we have strong potential to go fast in the race.”

ON PLANS TO STAY WITH CHEVROLET IN 2014:
“I don’t know. We don’t know about next year because of the new regulations coming, so we’ll know in the future, maybe two or three months.”



(Oriola struggled on Sunday, ending a streak of five-straight finishes of 4th or better and finishing outside the points for the first time since Round 11 in Russia)



I made it into Tom Coronel’s highlight video after his practice crash on Saturday. I’m on the far right in this screencap in the straw hat:


And, for those of you who caught the post-race press conference following Tarquini’s win in Round 18 (the second Sonoma race), I also was the person who asked the final question about why he took such a wide entry into The Carousel (Turn 6). His response:

“Yes, to be honest, my only mistake of the second race. Because with the front-wheel traction I had a small gap for the first two or three laps, I decided to stay because it’s very important for the tire wear to not be very aggressive, especially on the first few laps with a very low pressure, especially on the front. So I decided to drive very, very softly on the front tires and, after three or four laps, my front tire pressure was quite good. I tried to make a small gap to be safe for the last few laps, and in this corner I went too wide. It’s very easy with the front-wheel traction to make a mistake there, and I was pushing very hard. And after I gained 1.7, 1.8 second gap, I decided to stay with this pace. And, fortunately it was enough to win.”



Overall, it was a very exciting weekend with some of the WTCC’s best. It was also a thrill to be able to interview both Tarquini and RML driver Tom Chilton, who within hours would go on to score his first pole, then his first win, at our track.

For video from Sunday’s race, check out CBS SportsNetwork and, on September 25, SPEED2.

I also want to take this moment to thank the administrators, moderators, and members of this forum for allowing me to post these updates on your site. My co-workers and I are thankful for your efforts and we hope that you’ve enjoyed hearing more about this series and our track. In just two years, the WTCC weekend has become one of our signature events, and we hope for another great show in 2014.