After racing against him in the BTCC last year, Nash (left) will be teammate to Chilton (right) at the WTCC opener at Monza in March - Photo Credit: btcc.net

James Nash will race in the World Touring Car Championship this year for Team Aon alongside Tom Chilton, the team has announced today.

The Arena Motorsport-run squad will make the switch from the British championship to the World series this year, and will bring two British drivers with them. The team will use a new revised version of the Global Ford Focus they raced in the BTCC last year, powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine built by Mountune.

Chilton had already been expected to race for the team, for whom his father Grahame is a major partner. 26-year-old Chilton had raced Fords in the BTCC with Team Aon for three years, winning races at Knockhill and Silverstone in 2011 with the new-style Focus.

Also aged 26, Nash joins Chilton at the team after winning the BTCC Independents’ title last year, taking the title away from 2010 winner Chilton in the process. After racing on the WTCC support bill in the SEAT Leon Eurocup, Nash made his BTCC debut in 2009 in an RML-run Chevrolet, before spending the following two years racing a Vauxhall Vectra for Triple 8.

Chilton and Nash both drove the car at Valencia last week, and the team will move onto test at Guadix and Estoril later this month before the season begins at Monza on 11^th March.

“It’s great to know that we have the two most recent BTCC Independent champions in our team,” said team boss Mike Earle. “To have that kind of experience and ability holds us in good stead for our first season in the World Touring Car Championship. We’ve spent a great deal of time and effort in designing and building this car for the upcoming season and can’t wait for it to start.”

Chilton said: “I’m incredibly excited about the WTCC. It’s a new challenge for me and the team, but I know we’ve got the experience and the tools to do a good job at that level. It’s going to be a different season, not knowing the tracks or the competition like we did in the BTCC, but that’s part of the appeal – new challenges and new targets.

“The initial time I’ve had with the new WTCC version of the car has given me a lot of optimism. The team has a tremendous amount of experience with the older versions of the car and it has just been a logical development with a lot of the new parts. I’m confident we can take the fight to the established teams even in our first year.”

Nash added: “I’m really excited and pleased to be moving on to the next step of touring cars. I’ve had a great time in the BTCC, however everyone has aspirations and this was ultimately the next step in my career. I believe that I’m in the best position to have a successful 2012 season with Team Aon and I’m looking forward to my first season in the WTCC.”

The WTCC will race in Slovakia for the first time this year, having previously raced in the neighbouring Czech Republic (above) - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

The World Touring Car Championship will race in Slovakia for the first time this year, after a date at the Slovakia Ring was added to the 2012 calendar in place of the Race of Argentina.

The series had been due to make its first visit to Argentina on July 8 at a circuit in Cordoba, but that has now been shelved. It is the second aborted attempt to race in the country, with a scheduled race at Bueno Aires in 2011 also having to be canned.

“We have been forced to make this change because of the delays in defining the details of the agreement with the local Government,” explained WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti. “Time went by and we could not go further and take the risk of a last minute cancellation. However, Argentina remains a key market for us and we are determined to try again for 2013.”

Gustavo Santos, president of the Córdoba tourism agency, commented: “We feel very sorry not to be able to secure the WTCC event at the Autódromo Oscar Cabalén for 2012. However, we still have a keen interest in the project and we hope to carry it out in the next future.”

In its place is an additional European round at the Slovakia Ring, to be held on 29 April, the week before the Race of Hungary. Inaugurated in 2009, the Slovakia Ring hosted a round of the FIA GT3 European Championship last year.

“We are pleased with the opportunity to bring WTCC to the Slovak Republic for the first time,” said Lotti. “The Slovakia Ring is a demanding track with modern facilities and is only 170 kilometres away from the Hungaroring where we race the following week.”

Tomáš Vranka, executive director of Slovakia Ring, added: “We are very proud to host the WTCC, one of the few motorsport world championships. It is a great opportunity for our racetrack to be introduced to the international racing community and I am confident that Slovak fans will attend numerously.”

The new Civic will be Honda's WTCC challenger - Photo Credit: Honda

Honda have announced that they will enter the FIA World Touring Car Championship, in partnership with JAS Motorsport.

The new 5-door Honda Civic road car built at Swindon will be the base for the new race car, which will be developed by Italian firm JAS, who have a long-standing relationship with Honda.

Honda R&D is developing a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine, which will be manufactured and maintained by engine partner Mugen.

Honda is aiming to enter rounds this season, which would include the events at the Honda-owned Suzuka, as well as China and Macau. The JAS-run team will then enter a two-car team for the 2013 championship.

Honda have previously been present on the WTCC grid with the Accord Euro R model, also developed by JAS Motorsport. The Italian team entered the series themselves in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, while N.technology ran James Thompson in 2008, winning at Imola.

“We have made a decision to enter into the WTCC with the European Civic,” said Honda CEO Takanobu Ito. “We will develop a totally new engine for this project and we are all excited about starting this new challenge.”

Olivier Fisch, Managing Director of WTCC organiser Eurosport Events, added: “We are very pleased to welcome Honda in WTCC. Their commitment is a great reward for the huge, joint effort the FIA and Eurosport Events have done all these years to make the championship growing and become popular worldwide. We wish Honda to be successful in this new racing programme.”

Honda’s commitment comes at a time of renewed interest in the WTCC by manufacturers, with Ford, SEAT and Lada all looking the challenge the recent dominance of Chevrolet.

Thompson will be back behind the wheel of a Lada this season - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

James Thompson will return to the World Touring Car Championship this year together with Lada, Autosport has revealed.

The double British champion and European cup winner raced for the Russian manufacturer during the 2009 season, but has been absent from the WTCC since their withdrawal at the end of that year.

He will now lead their return to the series, which was announced at the end of December. Thompson will drive the new Granta model at the Hungaroring and Estoril events, which Lada is entering ahead of a possible full-time entry to the championship.

“I’m really pleased to have this deal,” Thompson said to Autosport, who also state that he has signed a multi-year deal with the manufacturer and that he is due to give the Granta its first test at Mangy-Cours in France in April.

“There’s a totally new structure, with Lada Racing having been created, and this gives me a lot of confidence that this can go somewhere.”

Bennani scored a career-best sixth place with Proteam at the 2011 season finale in Macau - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Mehdi Bennani will continue to race for Proteam in the World Touring Car Championship in 2012, the Italian outfit have confirmed.

The Moroccan driver has been a regular fixture in the series since making his debut on the streets of his home nation in Marrakech in 2009. He switched from SEAT power to BMW for 2010 when he competed for Wiechers-Sport, before moving over to the Proteam squad for last year.

He finished seventh in the Yokohama Trophy standings and also scored 24 points in the overall championship, helped by four top ten finishes at the three flyaway meetings in Asia at the end of the year. That included a double points finish at the season finale in Macau, with a career-best sixth in the second race around the Guia circuit.

“We are very pleased to keep Mehdi in the team and we expect a further improvement in his performance after the positive season last year,” said team principal Marco Guiducci of the 28-year-old.

“We have also confirmed our technical staff directed by engineer Marco Calovolo,” he added, in reference to the Italian who previously worked with James Thompson.

The team will start testing in February, and are due to announce their second driver soon. Bennani was partnered by former GP2 racer Javier Villa in 2011.

Lukoil will now enter Tarquini's SEAT, rather than just be the title sponsor of it - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Gabriele Tarquini will continue to pilot a SEAT Leon in the World Touring Car Championship in 2012, together with the Russian oil firm Lukoil.

The Italian veteran, together with newcomer Alexey Dudukalo, raced a Leon for the Spanish Sunred Engineering outfit last year, under the banner Lukoil-SUNRED. The team began the year with a normally-aspirated 2.0 litre engine, with which Tarquini managed a win at Zolder.

They later switched to their own 1.6 litre turbocharged unit, but it was fraught with reliability issues and was also not as competitive as rivals Chevrolet or BMW. Tarquini ended the year fifth overall in the standings.

The 49-year-old had been linked to Aon Ford’s WTCC project for this season, but he will instead remain with Lukoil, who will now enter their own team under the Lukoil Racing Team banner. The Leons will be powered by a new 1.6 litre turbocharged engine being commissioned by SEAT Sport. He will again be partnered by 35-year-old Dudukalo, who scored two top ten finishes in 2011.

Tarquini thinks the new engine will help him take the fight to Chevrolet.

“I am very glad that Lukoil confirmed me as one of their drivers, this was not guaranteed,” he said. “Also, I am very proud to be selected to train the next generation of Russian drivers. Now I’m eager to start the next season.

“Of course, we will use the same SEAT Leon cars, but I expect much from the new engine. In general, I think that we will be stronger than the year before, and be in the position to compete with Chevrolet.”

Lukoil Racing Team boss Evgeniy Malinovskiy added: “I am glad to present our program for World Championship 2012. Lukoil Racing Team will participate with the SEAT Leon of current generation but with better technical support.

“We have also prolonged contracts with drivers who represented us last season. First of all, I am glad that the world champion Gabriele Tarquini remains in our team. He is a most professional and victory-focused driver, whose experience will help us become stronger.

“This year in WTCC will be very important for Alexey Dudukalo. Alexey won Russian championships for many times, but it’s still difficult for him to compete in European races. Last season he lacked experience in competition and knowledge for a championship of such a high level, but this season we are expecting more stable results. As Alexey receives the necessary experience and good cars, his driving brings better results.

“WTCC is one of the most effective marketing and sport tools for Lukoil. They have excellent infrastructure to create guest programs for partners of the company. Last year we held several promotional and image-building events during competitions, and we are satisfied with their results.”

Dudukalo commented: “We will open the new season on better cars. I would like this to give us more chances to rise higher than last year. Then the main problem for us was the engine that had less power and reliability than those of our competitors. This time we will not have this problem, plus we can rely on better experience and technical support. Evgeny Malinovskiy has done good work between the seasons, and now everything depends on us.”

ROAL will run a second BMW alongside the one they ran for Tom Coronel in 2011 - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

ROAL Motorsport have announced that they will run two cars in this year’s World Touring Car Championship, with Alberto Cerqui joining Tom Coronel in the Italian squad’s lineup.

Coronel finished fourth in the WTCC standings last year, as the best non-Chevorlet driver, in his BMW 320 TC. He won one race, at Suzuka.

“2011 was a positive year,” said the Dutchman. “Race after race I improved the feeling with the team and we ended up fighting for the podium in the last four rounds. Starting from last year’s fourth place, our goal is to improve and win some more races; I feel I can fight for third in the championship.”

19-year-old Italian driver Cerqui made his first steps in touring cars in 2011 when he raced in the Superstars Series for the ROAL-run BMW Italia outfit. He won the Italian championship, and finished third in the International standings.

“After winning the Italian Superstars, WTCC was the obvious choice to continue my career in touring car racing,” said Cerqui. “Having the opportunity to continue racing for ROAL Motorsport is a further reason to rejoice, though I am aware that is not going to be a walk in the park as most of the tracks are new to me and the level of competition is very high.”

Team boss Roberto Ravaglia commented: “I am extremely satisfied for lining up two cars in 2012. It won’t be easy to repeat the good results we achieved in 2011, but I am confident. Tom provides experience and reliability, while Alberto has already shown his talent in adapting to new circuits.”

WTCC Global Ford Focus (Photo Credit: Team Aon)

A pre-Christmas shakedown at Ford’s Dunton facility marked the start of development of the WTCC version of the Global Ford Focus Team Aon will run in the 2012 championship.

The team had already announced their plans for the coming year, taking the Ford name back into the WTCC at the expense of a continued program in the BTCC.

Where as the latest regulations for the British championship are built around two litre turbocharged units the WTCC favours smaller 1.6litre engines, with car running on spec Yokahama tyres.

“The team have been working very hard to get the new WTCC car together in time for testing,” said team principal Mike Earle. “There are more restrictions on the WTCC car than there are on the BTCC version so we’ve had to change a few elements, and of course the tyres and engine are completely different. The shakedown before Christmas went well, and we’re going to be using the majority of January to work on the car in the factory before getting our test programme fully underway on track.”

Following the shakedown the team will spend more time testing the car in the wind tunnel, as well as continuing work on developing the car’s suspension in time for an FIA inspection later this month. The car will take to the track again in the UK before a more extensive winter testing program in Spain.

Negotiations with drivers are on-going with two drivers expected to join Tom Chilton for the 2012 campaign.

“It has been very exciting to see the development of this new car,” said Chilton, who took two wins in the BTCC-spec Focus last season. “Of course we’re already very familiar with the new Focus, having won races with it in 2011, but there are certain elements which make the WTCC version a different challenge from a driver’s perspective. We had our first proper shakedown with the car just before Christmas and hearing the new 1.6 engine fire up was pretty exciting in itself! The engine was incredibly impressive even on its first run and I can’t wait to see what else it can do when we get our full test programme underway. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s great to have such a new challenge.”

Nine winners of 2011, and tributes to two who lost their lives aiming to join them

Peter Allen

Huff beats Muller in Porto
Rob Huff chases down and catches Chevy teammate Yvan Muller, pulling alongside and past the Frenchman into one of the tight Portuguese street track’s chicanes. Huff attempts to turn in ahead, but there is contact. Huff goes across the inside of the chicane and keeps the lead to score his sixth win of the year. The momentum certainly seemed to be with Huff at the halfway point, but Muller would come back from this incident bigger and better to overhaul the Brit and win a third world title.

Rob Huff beat Yvan Muller in Porto (among other places) but still lost the title.

David Bean

Sky’s F1 deal
From a personal view there was the excitement of Nick Heidfeld’s car catching fire and exploding in front of us in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the mix of exhaustion and contentment that I felt as the top three Britcar 24 Hours runners came to a stop beside me under the Silverstone podium, signalling the end of a busy 24 hours of reporting for this site. From a wider perspective, however, the moment someone from Sky Sports put their signature on a contract to show Formula 1 is one of the most significant of the year. This deal marks a radical change in how the sport is transmitted to some of its most dedicated fans, and it could have huge implications for the future of F1.

Josh Bell

Alonso’s start at Monza
There have been many in 2012, some sadly more disconcerting. The standout moment that provided me with the most emotion was Fernando Alonso‘s extraordinary start at his home Grand Prix, storming to the front of the field from fourth on the grid in the Ferrari. I was stunned in disbelief, a moment perhaps written in the storms. It was a brief, yet brilliant, high point in the race for Fernando but it was incredible nonetheless.

Jason Plato's Chevrolet Cruze before, and after, the RML run team's miraculous resurrection

James Broomhead

Moment Of The Year – RML’s Donington Rebuild
Jason Plato has just barrel rolled out of the second BTCC race at Donington Park, he physically and mentally battered by the accident at the thought of ending his weekend a race early and facing not scoring on an unhappy weekend. Cue a miraculous rebuild from the Silverline Chevrolet team in time for a superlative recovery drive almost forgotten during the rest of the season. Every possible panel on the car was replaced, a new aerial taped to the door, the entire team involved, including Plato’s father polishing the buckled roof. Enough cannot be said for the team, you wonder how many teams would even contemplate attempting the task.

Andy Champness

Moment Of The Year – Tom Boardman’s “Great” Silverstone
Moving away from Australian V8 Supercars to British Touring Cars, my moment of the year was provided by Special Tuning Racing’s Tom Boardman (and not just because I help out with their PR!) Most of you will be thinking I’m going to say the win at Knockhill, but it was actually the final two races at Silverstone. After his move on Plato at Knockhill, Tom got a bit of needless grief, so to watch him storm through to finish race two in sixth after starting from 23rd and then finishing the final race in third on his own merit was special. Tom was ecstatic afterwards, telling me: “That has to be one of the best races I’ve had all season! I know my win at Knockhill was good, but that felt great!” It was a poignant moment, knowing how hard the team had worked to get the cars fighting at the front and for Tom to show he can genuinely cut it with the best of them.

Tom Boardman took a maiden BTCC win at Knockhill, but it's his performance at the season finale that is Andy Champness' moment of the year

Mark Foley

British Formula 3 Paul Ricard, Final Corner, Final Lap
An edgy, race-long tussle between key championships contenders, Felipe Nasr and Kevin Magnussen, apparently wasn’t interesting enough for feisty Portuguese series-hopper Antonio Felix Da Costa, who made his presence felt throughout his guest appearance at the Paul Ricard weekend from the first corner to the last…Magnussen, Da Costa and Nasr ran nose-to-tail throughout, with a resilient Magnussen looking set to hold off strong opposition and claim a much needed win for his stuttering championship campaign. But, with the chequered flag in sight, an all-too-late lunge at the last corner from Da Costa saw the young Dane flicked off the circuit, allowing Nasr through to take yet another win. It not only sent pulses racing, but also managed to define each protagonist’s season in some respects – Da Costa’s wild racecraft, Nasr’s consistency and Magnussen’s awful luck.

Chris Gurton

Mark Webber’s pass at Eau Rouge
I’ve been fortunate enough to witness and be part of a number of great moments over the past year within motorsport and will have many stories to tell my grandchildren. But one moment that I couldn’t let pass without mentioning was a real breathtaking moment which sums up just what it takes to be a great racing driver. I am of course talking about Mark Webber’s stunning overtake on Fernando Alonso during the Belgian Grand Prix. Having got a better exit from La Source, Webber was gaining on the Spaniard down the hill towards Eau Rouge tucked into the slip stream. Assuming he would wait for the run up to Les Combes and the DRS Zone to make his move, remarkably we witnessed Webber pull out and pass the Ferrari round the outside and through Eau Rouge in a move which would normally end in tears. It was a remarkable manoeuvre and one that many would never even consider but was executed with skill and precision by the Aussie.

Leigh O’Gorman

Dan Wheldon’s fatal crash
Sadly, this has to go to the death of Dan Wheldon – the ramifications of which may be felt in motor racing for years to come. Since the crash, noises for better cockpit protection for single-seater’s have grown louder, while IndyCar’s days at high-banked ovals may be numbered. With IndyCar struggling for ovals, Wheldon’s death – amongst all the pointless greed and bickering of the owners and organisers – may finally be what defines the future of IndyCar. That Wheldon was about to move to a new chapter as the driver of Andretti-Autosport’s Go Daddy car makes it all the more tragic. A true superstar was lost.

Whether be the future of open-wheel oval racing, or the closed cockpit concept the death of Dan Wheldon will be felt by the Indycar fraternity and beyond for years to come

Simon Paice

Teammates get it wrong
There are two moments that stand out for me, both being incidents that stunned me into silence when team-mates got it wrong on track. First was the Honda Racing mix-up at Oulton Park in the BTCC, when Matt Neal made a last lap, final corner lunge at Gordon Shedden and resulted in putting them both through the gravel, cueing shocked faces from everyone watching.

The other was in the Formula Renault BARC opener at Croft, when the Fortec Motorsport team had a disaster. Braking for the first corner on the opening lap, contact between three of the Fortec cars resulted in its two title contenders, Josh Webster and Archie Hamilton, ending their races in the gravel, to the disbelief of those in attendance. This proved decisive in Webster narrowly missing out on the title.

Vince Pettit

Seeing Liam Doran take X Games Gold was a definite highlight of my year. I’ve been a fan of the X Games for some years and the recent addition of Rallycross has been excellent. Seeing Liam Doran work his way through the heats to face a head to head with rally legend Marcus Gronholm was amazing. Who would have thought a British driver in Downtown Los Angeles could cause such an upset on his X Games debut.

Liam Doran flew to X-Games glory, defeating Marcus Gronholm in the LA final

Louis Suddaby

Faubel and Zarco’s Dead Heat in Germany
Even now, I look at the photo finish from that day and still can’t believe what I’m seeing! The 125cc class is no stranger to close finishes but this was incredible. Never in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing had we seen a dead heat and the winner decided by a tiebreak. The fastest lap of the race swung it Faubel’s way. On four wheels, the Honda implosion at the final corner at Oulton Park stands out as a jaw dropping moment from the BTCC while Jenson Button’s last lap win in Canada also had me shouting at the telly!

TCF's two-wheel regular Louis Suddaby on the end of the 125cc race in Germany "I look at the photo finish from that day and still can’t believe what I’m seeing!"

Scott Wilkes

0.006s.
It’s difficult to describe just how epic the final two laps of the British Superbike Championship were. As Shane Byrne ran away with the victory in the final race at Brands Hatch, the title contenders were locked in a titanic duel for second. As the laps counted down to the penultimate tour, John Hopkins and Tommy Hill. After swapping positions at practically every corner, it came down to a sprint for the line out of the final corner. In the end, Tommy Hill walked away from Brands with the British title, and the honour of being part of two of the greatest laps of racing ever witnessed.

Lada were top six finishers in 2009 with James Thompson - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Lada are looking at making a full return to the World Touring Car Championship in 2013, and will enter two rounds of the 2012 season in preparation.

The Russian car brand will be represented by the TMS operation at the Hungarian and Portuguese rounds of the 2012 season, running a new Lada Granta Sport car.

Lada first appeared in the WTCC in 2008 with Lada 110 models entered under the Russian Bears Motorsport banner, with Jaap van Lagen, Kirill Ladygin and team principal Viktor Shapopalov driving. The team then ran the factory-entered Lada Sport team in 2009, with James Thompson joining the team mid-season as they introduced the new Priora model. The Briton scored two sixth-place finishes at Imola.

Since then the Lada Granta Cup has been created – the car providing the basis for the vehicle they will use for their return.

Tom Coronel with Michiel Mol and a spacesuit

World Touring Car Championship racer Tom Coronel will travel into space in 2014, after signing up to become one of the 100 ‘founder’ astronauts of a programme run by former F1 team owner Michiel Mol.

During the Millionaire Fair in Amsterdam last week, the 39-year-old signed a contract with Dutch entrepreneur Mol, co-founder of SXC Space Expedition Curacao and formerly a director of the Spyker and Force India F1 teams.

He joins Dutch model Doutzen Kroes and DJ Armin van Buuren in signing up for the programme.

“I vividly remember that Wubbo Ockels, the first Dutch astronaut, came to visit us at home and told about his adventure in space in a very inspiring way,” said Coronel. “From that moment on, I was certain: being able to wave to the earth as an astronaut from space, wouldn’t that just be fantastic?

“I have said it several times in various interviews in the last couple of years. My answer to the question what I would like to do once in my life invariably is: ‘Travelling to the moon!’ That is still beyond reach, but this is already getting very close. For me, it cannot come quickly enough. Thanks to at least one and probably two sponsors, I am one of the one hundred lucky persons who will be the first ones to enjoy this unique experience in 2014. This is one of the few things still on my list and I will be able to tick that box, too. Just great.”

Coronel heard about the project from Mol when they met at the Ascari Race Resort in Spain. “We were seated at the same table one evening and Michiel told his story. I still knew him from Formula 1 and this again was something that really appealed to me. Honestly, I spent a couple of sleepless nights to get used to the idea. For me, there was no doubt that I wanted to do it, but everybody knows that it is an expensive project. With the support of one and probably two sponsors, the identity of which I can only reveal at a later stage, the basis for signing the contract was there. At that occasion, I also met Michiel’s partners Ben Droste, Harry van Hulten and Maarten Elshove. They told me that Armin van Buuren and Doutzen Kroes are also in the group of the first one hundred ‘founder’ astronauts and when you hear all that, it all becomes even more special.

“Moreover, this is more than just an event for the ‘happy few’. This is also a project that contributes to reducing air flight time. In the future, it will be possible to fly from here to Australia in 2.5 hours, and probably with more than the two people that now fit into the capsule. The total journey lasts approximately one and a half hours and in that time, you are going up to an altitude of more than 100 kilometres and back. Now that is a sensation of speed for you! Until then, I will still be fully committed to racing in the FIA WTCC. We are still in the process of negotiations to finalise our plans for the 2012 World Championship.”

The WTCC won't race on British soil in 2012, the year after its first visit to Donington Park - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

The World Touring Car Championship will not visit the United Kingdom for the first time since its relaunch in 2005, after a revised 2012 schedule was confirmed at the meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council today in India.

The provisional calendar previously released in September had the Race of UK at Donington Park for the second year, scheduled for April. This has now been removed, with the return of the Race of Morocco in Marrakech moving forward to take that date from its original position of May.

There will also be no race in Germany for the first time, with the usual Oschersleben round switched to the Salzburgring in Austria, a regular venue for the European Touring Car Cup in recent years. That will take place in the 20 May slot originally held by Marrakech.

Replacing the UK in hosting a WTCC round is Argentina. The country had originally been pencilled in for a race early in the 2011 season before being replaced by Zolder. The 2012 edition will take place as the first of the flyaways in early July, after the final European race is held at Estoril in Portugal in June.

Another change of venue for 2012 sees the penultimate Chinese round move from the Tianma circuit to the nearby Shanghai International Circuit.

There were other changes announced at the WMSC. They were:

• Normally-aspriated S2000 cars (those complying with Appendix J of the 2010 regulations) will be accepted only a race-by-race basis in 2012.
• The distance of a race has been changed, with each race now running over a minimum of 50 kilometres and maximum of 60 kilometres.
• The system for calculating the compensation weights has been simplified for 2012.
• Three of the race weekends will run jointly with the FIA European Touring Car Cup.

2012 WTCC calendar:

* Subject to the ASN’s confirmation
** Subject to the homologation of the circuit

STR actually have previous experience of the WTCC - here is Tom Boardman competing at Brands Hatch in 2010 - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Special Tuning Racing have confirmed that they are aiming to enter the 2012 World Touring Car Championship with a two-car squad and customer works support from SEAT Sport.

Team Principal John Boardman and Technical Director Gary Robertshaw were present at last weekend’s WTCC season finale in Macau, where they met SEAT Sport chief Jaime Puig and agreed a deal in principal for 2012.

This deal would see Special Tuning utilising two of their SEAT Leons, and fitting them with a new 1.6 litre turbocharged engine and gearbox package developed by SEAT Sport. The engines will therefore be different to the ones that were built and used this year by the multi-car Sunred Engineering outfit, independently of SEAT Sport. The team will also benefit from technical backup and engineering support from the Spanish manufacturer.

Special Tuning have raced in the British Touring Car Championship for the past two years, but do have some World Touring Car Championship experience. Driver Tom Boardman entered the series in 2009 with his family squad, but with a SEAT Leon entered by Sunred. They made a further appearance at the Brands Hatch round in 2010.

The team says that it still plans to run two cars in next year’s BTCC in addition to its WTCC programme.

“We are very excited by the prospect of working closely with SEAT Sport as a customer ‘works’ team,” said John Boardman. “This will take our involvement with running SEAT touring cars to the next level.

“We have over eight years’ experience racing the Leon in the WTCC, BTCC and SEAT single make series. This support from SEAT should make us even more competitive in next season’s championship. We look forward to making our experience produce front running pace in the WTCC.”

Robertshaw added that the team is working on finalising its driver lineup. “We are currently looking at a number of options with drivers who wish to compete in a proven race winning car with manufacturer support and technical input,” he said.

“We feel that running just two cars with our own technical expertise, and that of SEAT Sport, we can provide the attention to detail to be a front running team in the WTCC. We have nothing firmed up at the moment but this is a great opportunity for the right driver.”

Huff and Muller congratulate one another after the race - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Rob Huff completed a fine double victory in the Guia Race of Macau, but missed out on a first World Touring Car Championship title as rival and teammate Yvan Muller finished in third place to secure his third world title.

Tom Coronel took the lead at the start, getting the jump on front row starters Franz Engstler and Michel Nykjaer. Nykjaer and Huff had taken second and third by the time they got to Lisboa, with Huff then squeezing his way past the Dane during the twisty mountain section.

After starting from seventh, Muller had passed Gabriele Tarquini for seventh at the start and then got past Engstler at the end of the opening lap. On lap three, Huff took the lead from Coronel on the run down to Lisboa, while behind Muller took his vital fourth place from Bennani. This tied him on points with Huff, and with the duo also tied for race wins Muller would win the title on second-places countback.

Such desperate measures wouldn’t be needed to separate them in the end though, as Muller took third from Nykjaer on lap nine. The safety car had come out on lap three after Gary Kwok crashed his BMW, and remained out until lap seven.

Tarquini finished fourth after getting past Bennani and then Nykjaer, with Norbert Michelisz also passing the Moroccan to come home sixth. Engstler finished eighth after dropping back over the first two laps off of pole position, with Tiago Monteiro and Javier Villa taking the final points of the year.

Huff crosses the finish line ahead of Muller - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Rob Huff took a bite out of Yvan Muller’s World Touring Car Championship points lead with a lights-to-flag victory ahead of his teammate in the first race at the season finale in Macau.

The Chevrolet duo are now separated by 13 points, with Huff starting from third and Muller from eighth for Race 2.

The start of the race was aborted because all the cars were not lined up at the rolling start correctly. When they did get the go-ahead one lap later, Huff and Muller ran side-by-side down to Mandarin, where Rob pulled ahead and just kept out of the barrier on the exit.

The race came to an end for their teammate Alain Menu just behind though, as he and local ace Andre Couto both got too close to the wall. Couto swerved back out across the track, completing a 180^o spin and returning across the track to hit Menu against the wall. Remarkably, nobody else got caught up in the accident. For Menu it was his second incident with Couto of the weekend, after the contact in qualifying that left him 13^th on the grid.

With Menu’s car stranded on the track the safety car came out. The race restarted at the end of the fourth lap, with Huff retaining his lead. Things would kick off again down at Lisboa, where Tiago Monteiro outbraked himself and went straight on. The two drivers he was trying to chase – Darryl O’Young and Mehdi Bennani – then got together on the exit, as O’Young pulled out to defend fourth place. O’Young ended up sideways in the barrier, and although the cars were quickly cleared the safety car needed to come back out for the track surface to be cleaned up.

Once the race got going again Muller would keep the pressure on Huff until the finish, but despite trying to find a way past at Lisboa on several occasions he could not get ahead.

Gabriele Tarquini finished a quiet third, with Tom Coronel fourth after benefiting from the O’Young-Bennani collision. Michel Nykjaer came out on top of the Yokohama Trophy battle in fifth overall, ahead of Franz Engstler. Seventh overall and third of the Trophy runners was enough for Kristian Poulsen to put himself out of reach in the points. Norbert Michelisz was eighth, with Bennani recovering to ninth ahead of Pepe Oriola.

Rob Huff - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Rob Huff boosted his World Touring Car Championship title hopes by claiming pole position in qualifying in Macau, ahead of Chevrolet teammate and points leader Yvan Muller.

Robert Dahlgren was the quickest driver in the first part of qualifying, which determines the ten drivers that go through to Q2 as well as picking the grid for Race 2 by reversing the top ten.

Muller was third fastest, which will leave him eighth on the grid for second race. Huff meanwhile was eighth, securing him third on the grid. The two Chevrolet drivers were not joined by their teammate Alain Menu in Q2, after the Swiss driver could only manage 13^th after an incident with local ace Andre Couto.

The second session was red flagged early on after Dahlgren crashed heavily, with his Volvo catching fire. He managed to get himself out of the car, but sustained a broken thumb and will not race on Sunday. He joins Fredy Barth on the sidelines, who crashed his Sunred Leon in practice and was unconscious in the car as it burst into flames. He was extricated from the car and taken to hospital where he will remain overnight after suffering from smoke inhalation.

Q2 restarted 25 minutes after Dahlgren’s crash, with Huff going to the top of the timesheets with his first attempt. Muller moved ahead with his final effort, but Huff then regained the place by going 0.268s quicker than the Frenchman.

Gabriele Tarquini was the best of the rest in third, 1.266s away from Huff. Darryl O’Young claimed a strong fourth place at the Hong Kong driver’s ‘home race’, ahead of Tom Coronel. Mehdi Bennani will line up sixth ahead of Couto, Michel Nykjaer and Franz Engstler (who will start Race 2 from pole).

Rob Huff - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Rob Huff claimed first blood in the World Touring Car Championship decider at Macau with the fastest time of the test session on Thursday.

The Brit was 0.868 seconds quicker than the next best driver, his Chevrolet teammate and title rival Yvan Muller. Muller leads Huff by 20 points in the drivers’ standings.

The session began on a damp track, but the surface dried as the session wore on which led to the times falling considerably in the closing stages. Muller went fastest with his final attempt as the checkered flag came out, but Huff then improved significantly on that.

Darryl O’Young was a strong third quickest in his bamboo-run car to complete a top three lockout for the Chevrolet Cruze. He was 1.8s adrift of Huff though. Tiago Monteiro and Alain Menu followed closely behind.

Franz Engstler was the best of the Yokohama Trophy runners in sixth, with his teammate and Trophy points leader Kristian Poulsen just behind. Two of his rivals – Norbert Michelisz and Michel Nykjaer – were next up, with Mehdi Bennani completing the top ten.

The session began 30 minutes late due to barrier repairs necessitated by a crash in another category’s practice session. After it got underway it had to be red flagged with 20 minutes remaining after Charles Ng hit the barriers at the Melco Hairpin and was forced to come to a halt a little further down the track.

Test session times:

Yvan Muller and Rob Huff return to Macau having led the way throughout the 2011 season - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

The season-long battle for the 2011 World Touring Car Championship drivers’ crown between Chevrolet teammates Yvan Muller and Rob Huff comes down to the wire this weekend at the traditional season-closer at Macau.

Muller’s victory in the Race 2 last time out at Shanghai allowed the Frenchman to extend his lead over his British rival to 20 points. With 50 points available from the remaining two races, it is by no means over. However, if Muller can score five more points than Huff in Sunday’s first race, he will win his third (and second consecutive) world title.

The year so far has been a season of two halves. From the first six race weekends, Huff won six races, while Muller had won just two. Huff’s home round of Donington Park proved to be a pivotal weekend though, as Muller took a double win. He’s racked up four further wins since, while Huff hasn’t scored any victories since his contentious win in Porto after contact with Muller.

Looking at the form of the two drivers in Macau suggests that Huff has a decent chance of overturning the deficit. Muller has yet to win on the street circuit from ten attempts. Huff on the other hand has picked up one win from each of the last three years.

Away from the main title fight, the battle for independent honours also comes down to the final round. Kristian Poulsen leads the Yokohama Trophy, 23 points ahead of Norbert Michelisz. Double points being awarded in Macau means that 43 points are still up for grabs. This means that Michel Nykjaer, Franz Engstler and Javier Villa can still take home the prize.

Yukinori Taniguchi has been forced to withdraw from the event after his bamboo engineering team were unable to fix the damage he sustained in Shanghai.

Click to view Guia Race of Macau Entry List

Schedule (all times GMT):

Thursday
Test: 05:50-06:20

Friday
Practice 1: 00:30-01:00
Practice 2: 04:15-04:45
Qualifying Q1: 07:25-07:55
Qualifying Q2: 08:00-08:15

Sunday
Warm Up: 00:15-00:30
Race 1: 03:10-03:35
Race 2: 04:30-05:00

Team Aon's Tom Chilton in BTCC action (Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography)

In preparation for an entry into the championship in 2012 representatives of Team Aon visited the World Touring Car paddock in Shanghai Tianma during last week’s Chinese round of the WTCC.

Mike Earle, team principal of Arena Motorsport, which runs the Team Aon operation in the BTCC, was joined by Grahame Chilton and BTCC race winner Tom Chilton in meetings with WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti and Jost Capito, director of Ford Global Motorsport Business Development.

Earle revealed that the team are pushing forward with expansive plans for the 2012 season. “We are going ahead with our WTCC preparation. We have built a Ford Focus to S2000 specifications and we will start testing with Tom Chilton before the end of this month. As an Independent Constructor, our team preparation for the 2012 WTCC season is enabled through the S2000 development support from Ford.”

Grahame Chilton, who attended the meetings as Earle’ commercial partner added; “our aim is to build a three-car team and besides Tom we are in touch with a number of prospective leading touring car drivers with international experience, with the aim being to launch a team that is competitive from the outset.”

“I am obviously excited by the fact that a new and glamorous brand with worldwide commercial interests may become involved in the championship,” said Lotti. “I’m also pleased that the programme will be run by such a professional team and will involve a young and promising driver like Tom who emerged from a competitive national championship like the BTCC. This addition will provide WTCC with further competition and appeal.”

Muller's victory gives him a 20 point lead going to Macau - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Yvan Muller has extended his points lead heading to the World Touring Car Championship season finale in Macau with a fine victory in the second race at Tianma in Shanghai.

Gabriele Tarquini took the lead at the start of the race past polesitter Rob Huff. Huff looked to regain the place further round the opening lap but Tarquini defended and forced the Brit onto the grass. This allowed Muller to move up into second place.

Muller took the lead from Tarquini a couple of laps later, and soon opened up a comfortable lead. His final winning advantage stood at 10.5 seconds.

Huff was soon on the back of Tarquini again after their contact, but could not find a way through around the tight Tianma circuit. The result leaves Huff 20 points away from Muller going to Macau in a fortnight’s time.

Colin Turkington was running fourth until he locked his brakes at Turn 1 ten laps in, losing places to Tom Coronel and Race 1 winner Alain Menu. He would get back past both of them before the end of the race, taking the Dutchman on the very last lap.

The two Engstler BMWs of Kristian Poulsen and Franz Engstler finished on the back of the Tarquini train in seventh and eighth – giving the former a 23 point lead in the Yokohama Trophy.

Poulsen’s cause was helped when chief rival Norbert Michelisz spun at the start, taking himself out of the race as well as Tiago Monteiro and Javier Villa.

Robert Dahlgren finished ninth in the Polestar Volvo, with Hong Kong’s Charles Ng scoring a maiden point in tenth in his Engstler-run BMW.

Race results – 25 laps:

Drivers’ standings after 11 of 12 rounds:

Menu leads Huff and Turkington early in the race - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Alain Menu kept Colin Turkington at bay to win the very first World Touring Car Championship race at Tianma in Shanghai.

Starting from pole position, Menu maintained his lead at the start ahead of Chevrolet teammate Rob Huff and Wiechers BMW driver Turkington, who this weekend was making just his third appearance of the season.

In the middle of the race Turkington looked much faster than his fellow Brit Huff, and made his way past on lap 13. From there he set after Menu, quickly closing a gap of more than 1.5 seconds down to just three tenths within five laps. He was unable to find a way through though, and Menu would open up his lead again to 1.2s by the checkered flag.

Huff’s third place allowed him to reduce the gap to championship leader Yvan Muller slightly – the Frenchman finishing behind him in fourth after starting seventh. Muller had taken the place from Norbert Michelisz on lap 18, the Hungarian BMW driver then losing two further places to Tom Coronel and Kristian Poulsen further round the lap.

Michelisz would drop out of the top ten entirely before the end of the race, leaving Mehdi Bennani to finish seventh, ahead of Tiago Monteiro, Robert Dahlgren and Javier Villa.

Gabriele Tarquini had started fifth, but lost several places early on before retiring to the pits with brake problems.

Race results -25 laps:

All smiles for Huff, Menu and Turkington after qualifying - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Alain Menu claimed his second consecutive World Touring Car Championship pole position by going quickest in qualifying for the first WTCC Race of China at Shanghai’s Tianma Circuit.

Rob Huff qualified alongside his Swiss teammate for the first race, and will start the second race from pole after setting the tenth fastest time in Q1.

The first session took place on a damp but drying track. Tom Coronel would set the quickest time, ahead of Norbert Michelisz, Menu, Colin Turkington, Pepe Oriola, Tiago Monteiro, Yvan Muller, Fredy Barth and Gabriele Tarquini, with Huff squeezing through to Q2 in tenth and taking pole for Race 2.

The first of the drivers to miss out on Q2 were Yokohama Trophy points leader Kristian Poulsen, Proteam BMW driver Javier Villa and Robert Dahlgren in the Polestar Volvo.

In Q2, Menu was the first to set a quick lap, but Turkington then moved into first place. He was then shaded by Huff, before Menu returned to top spot to take pole.

Behind the top three of Menu, Huff and Turkington, Michelisz put his Zengo BMW fourth, just five thousandths quicker than Tarquini. Coronel was sixth, with points leader Muller only managing seventh after a mistake on his final attempt. The Sunred trio of Monteiro, Oriola and Barth completed the top ten.

“It was very difficult to qualify for Q2,” said Menu afterwards. “By the end of Q1 I was out of the top ten and I only managed to make the cut on my last attempt. In Q2 I did hesitate, thinking of using one set of tyre and waiting until the final moments. Instead I decided to go out early, which gave me the chance to make a second try just before the end.

“It was a good decision and I am very pleased, because on this track is difficult to overtake and starting from the pole means that I could be leading on the first lap. As I said I’m out of the championship fight and my only goal is to win races and finish the season as best as I can.”

Huff said: “I made a mistake during my first attempt in Q2 that would place me in fourth. It was a tough call, whether to stay out on the same set of slicks or to come in and get a second set. I finally took the decision to abort the second lap and go to the pits. Probably I went out a bit too early with the second set. It was good enough for pole position at that time, but in the end Alain was able to go faster.

“Anyway, I’m really happy, I’m second in the first race and on pole for the second. I admit I was lucky, because in Q1 I was in 11^th position and, as I did not want to stay out again like in Hungary, I put in a very good lap and found myself in tenth.”

Turkington commented: “I am very pleased with the weekend so far. We have been competitive in every session. I think the team did a great job, Wiechers-Sport and WSR worked together to produce a very good car. Especially in Q2 it was perfect.

“It was not an easy qualifying, since the conditions in Q1 were very difficult for the BMW cars, with the track changing from wet to dry. I thought it was reasonable to enter the top-ten not too fast. It’s not easy to say on a circuit like this, where sometimes you think to be faster while you are slower. But my lap in Q2 was very good and I don’t think there was much margin left to improve and steal the pole from Menu.”

Alain Menu - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Alain Menu recorded the fastest time in the Friday test session ahead of the WTCC Race of China at Shanghai’s Tianma Circuit.

The Chevrolet driver moved ahead of Robert Dahlgren and Colin Turkington at the very end of the session with a time of 1:05.978.

That lap was 0.039s quicker than Volvo’s Dahlgren and 0.125s better than Wiechers BMW driver Turkington’s.

Title rivals and Chevrolet teammates Rob Huff and Yvan Muller were fourth and fifth respectively, separated by just 0.015s. In all, the top five were covered by just 0.153s.

Tom Coronel was sixth off the back of his victory for ROAL in Suzuka, ahead of Engstler BMW duo Kristian Poulsen and Franz Engstler. Home favourite Darryl O’Young was ninth ahead of Javier Villa, despite the Spaniard ending up in the gravel and bringing out the red flags.

Test Session times:

Charles Ng and Fabio Fabiani driving their BMW 320si cars at Suzuka. Both will have a change of entrant for Shanghai - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

A number of driver changes have taken place involving privateer BMW drivers ahead of the next World Touring Car Championship round at Shanghai’s Tianma Circuit. Philip Ma has replaced Fabio Fabiani at Proteam, with the Italian moving to Liqui Moly Team Engstler as Charles Ng moves over to the KK Motorsport entry.

Fabiani has raced a normally aspirated BMW 320si for Proteam for much of the season so far, often failing to qualify but being allowed by the stewards to race. At the last round at Suzuka, after a number of incidents through practice and qualifying, he was blocked from starting the race.

Proteam’s 320si will be raced at the remaining two rounds at Shanghai and Macau by Hong Kong driver Philip Ma. Ma made his World Touring Car Championship debut at Macau last year in a privately-entered Honda Accord.

Fabiani meanwhile will instead race a 320si for Team Engstler at Shanghai, replacing Ng in the team’s third entry. Ng transfers over to the German outift’s KK Motorsport-entered 320TC after making his WTCC debut at Suzuka. The KK car was driven by Masaki Kano in Japan.

Full entry list for WTCC Race of China

Coronel leads the three Chevrolets across the line to win - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Tom Coronel kept the Chevrolets at bay to score his first win in the ROAL Motorsport BMW in Race 2 at Suzuka.

Coronel began the race on the front row alongside polesitter Darryl O’Young, but the Bamboo Engineering Chevrolet driver got a poor launch off the line, and eventually ended up in the gravel on the outside of Turn 1 after contact from Gabriele Tarquini.

Coronel endured race long pressure from Yvan Muller to claim his second WTCC win, his first since Okayama, also in Japan, in 2008.

Rob Huff finished on the third step of the podium, never quite managing to get past Muller. Robert Dahlgren was fourth for much of the race before momentarily slowing and allowing Race 1 winner Alain Menu to go past. The Swede did catch Menu again and the pair made contact two laps from the end, but the Swiss driver would hold on.

Tarquini was also with the leading train to begin with but was handed a drive-through penalty for his contact with O’Young at the start. He then opted to retire to the pits after being demoted to the back of the field.

Michel Nykjaer finished sixth, leading home a train of BMWs. Colin Turkington was seventh, ahead of Javier Villa, Norbert Michelisz, Kristian Poulsen and Franz Engstler.

Finishing one place ahead of Huff allows Muller to extend his points lead from 10 to 13 points. Rounds in China and Macau remain, with the WTCC’s first visit to Shanghai’s Tianma Circuit taking place on 6^th November.

Race 2 results – 23 laps:

Drivers’ standings after 10 of 12 rounds:

Alain Menu on his way to victory at Suzuka - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Alain Menu won the first World Touring Car Championship race at Suzuka, with Rob Huff finishing second to cut the gap to Yvan Muller in the standings.

The start of the race saw carnage at the first couple of corners. Robert Dahlgren, who had started third in the Polestar Volvo, was fired off into the barrier before Turn 1. Further contact into Turn 2 wiped out Tiago Monteiro and Tom Coronel amongst others.

The three Chevrolets escaped unharmed up front, with Muller jumping polesitter Menu into the lead of the race. The opening lap incident saw the safety car come out, staying out until the end of the sixth lap.

At the restart the positions remained the same, but one lap later Muller allowed Menu back past into the lead into Turn 1. Muller then handed second place to Huff when he lost the rear end of his car going through the last couple of corners. Michel Nykjaer also made it through into third.

Up front Menu pulled away from Huff and took the checkered flag three seconds ahead of the Briton. Muller meanwhile couldn’t really challenge Nykjaer for the final podium place, and in fact had to defend from another Dane in Kristian Poulsen.

Local driver Yukinori Taniguchi ended up in sixth place after the first lap havoc, but was passed by Colin Turkington on lap 14. Taniguchi held on under pressure from Mehdi Bennani and Gabriele Tarquini late on to finish seventh. Tarquini had got caught up in the opening lap scuffle and had to pit to repair damage but worked his way back up to finish ninth. Norbert Michelisz completed the top ten.

Race 1 results – 25 laps:

Alain Menu celebrates his pole position - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

After setting the pace in the test and free practice sessions, Alain Menu was again the man to beat in qualifying for the WTCC Race of Japan at Suzuka, taking pole position in an extremely close session.

In Q1, it was series returnee Colin Turkington who posted the fastest time in his Wiechers-Sport BMW, ahead of Michel Nykjaer, Gabriele Tarquini, Menu, Robert Dahlgren, Tiago Monteiro, title rivals Yvan Muller and Rob Huff, Tom Coronel and Darryl O’Young. This gives the Chinese driver pole position for the second race.

The first session was interrupted by a red flag when Pepe Oriola crashed heavily at the exit of the final turn. The young Spaniard ended up 20^th of the 24 runners, but has been given a five place grid penalty for changing his engine.

Rally driver Toshi Arai could only manage 16^th after showing strong pace in practice in the fourth factory Chevrolet. He then had all his times disallowed for not stopping at the weighing bridge.

In Q2 most of the drivers set their best times on their first attempts at a flying lap. Menu edged out Muller by 0.049 seconds to take pole position. Dahlgren improved on his second effort to prevent a Chevrolet lockout of the top three by beating Huff to third place. The Briton was only 0.077s behind Menu’s time.

Coronel also improved to take fifth ahead of the Sunred trio of Monteiro, Nykjaer and Tarquini. O’Young and Turkington will share the fifth row of the grid for the first race.

The result gave Menu his third pole of the year, and extended Chevrolet’s complete domination of qualifying this year.

“On my best lap I had a huge oversteer at turn seven and then the car went the other way going into Turn 8, so I didn’t think it was a good lap time,” he said. “So I’m very happy that I still got the pole. For Q2, it started to drizzle a little bit. It was hardly anything, so I think we all thought it would be OK, but it was enough to make a few corners very slippery.”

Muller said: “Well done to Alain. He deserved it, he did a great lap. I am pleased with second place, especially because after my first lap in Q2 I was not really feeling the car. We did a small change, and the balance was much better. I’m second and Rob is behind me, and that is the main thing.”

Dahlgren added: “The Chevrolets have done a great job. I thought I might have had a chance to do something in qualifying, but unfortunately on my first lap I went off a bit and on the second one it was slippery and I went off again. We’ll look at the data and everyone will say, ‘oh, I could have gone this much faster’, but there are two races tomorrow and I think it will be very interesting if we have good race speed as well.”

Qualifying 1 result (top ten reversed for race two grid)

 Qualifying 2 results

Alain Menu - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Alain Menu carried his pacesetting form from the Friday test session into free practice on Saturday morning in Suzuka.

The first of the two practice sessions took place on a wet track after an earlier rain shower. Rob Huff posted the fastest time for Chevrolet, but his teammate Menu fell just 0.040 seconds shy with his best effort.

Tiago Monteiro went third quickest, preventing a Chevy 1-2-3 and forcing championship leader Yvan Muller to settle for fourth place. Robert Dahlgren was fifth in the Polestar Volvo, ahead of Gabriele Tarquini.

The track was still damp at the start of the second session, though it dried up as the session went on. Menu was 0.365s quicker than Huff, with Muller a further 0.237s behind in third. Fredy Barth was a surprise best non-Chevrolet in fourth, only seven hundredths of a second behind Muller.

His Sunred teammate Monteiro was fifth, with rally star Toshi Arai sixth in his fourth factory Chevrolet. Fellow local driver Hiroki Yoshimoto was a strong seventh in his Sunred, with the BMWs of Mehdi Bennani, Colin Turkington and Franz Engstler completing the top ten.

Free practice 1 times:

Free practice 2 times:

Alain Menu - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Alain Menu topped the timesheets as the run-in to the World Touring Car Championship season commenced with a Friday test session at Suzuka in Japan.

Chevrolet driver Menu knocked Polestar Volvo pilot Robert Dahlgren off top spot with a couple minutes remaining in what was an unusually closely fought session.

Rob Huff, who is 24 points behind teammate and points leader Yvan Muller arriving in Asia, posted the third fastest time, 0.253 seconds behind Menu. Tiago Monteiro edged out Muller to put his SUNRED Leon fourth.

Tom Coronel was the top BMW in sixth ahead of Gabriele Tarquini, while rally driver Toshi Arai was an impressive eighth on his car racing debut in a fourth factory Chevrolet Cruze. Darryl O’Young was ninth in his Bamboo-run Cruze, ahead of the returning Colin Turkington.

Debutant Hiroki Yoshimoto was 14^th in his SUNRED car, just ahead of Norbert Michelisz who limited his running with an off that brought out the red flags just five minutes into the session. Masaki Kano was 21^st, making his season debut in the KK Motorsport-entered BMW, just ahead of another WTCC newcomer Charles Ng of Hong Kong in a normally-aspirated Engstler BMW.

Test session times

Colin Turkington in the Wiechers-Sport BMW at Donington Park - Photo Credit: fiawtcc.com

Colin Turkington will return to the hot-seat of the Wiechers-Sport BMW for the next two rounds of the World Touring Car Championship at Suzuka and Shanghai.

The 2009 British Touring Car Champion made a one-off appearance for the German squad on home soil at Donington Park earlier in the season. After qualifying fifth he was involved in incidents in both races but finished tenth in both.

He will replace Stefano D’Aste again for the races at Suzuka in Japan and Tianma in China, thanks to a deal with insurance firm Aviva-Cofco. The company previously backed Turkington in the Japan and Macau rounds last year when he drove for West Surrey Racing and inherited a victory at Okayama when the factory BMW of Augusto Farfus was excluded.

“I’m delighted to be racing for Aviva-Cofco Wiechers-Sport,” said Turkington. “I’ve had successful races for Aviva in Macau and Okayama and I can’t wait to get back in the car and drive for them again, especially because when I raced for Wiechers-Sport earlier this season at Donington we were the fastest BMW and fastest in the Yokohama Trophy.”

Wiechers-Sport Team Manager Dominik Greiner said: “It’s great to be working with both Colin and WSR and we are pleased to be representing such a leading global brand in Aviva-Cofco.  Colin is a fantastic driver and one of his strengths is to be able to get accustomed to new circuits very quickly. As Suzuka and Shanghai are new track for all the drivers, we are confident that he can put this skill to good use to secure good results.”

Simon Machell, Chief Executive of Aviva Asia Pacific, commented: “The World Touring Car Championship is a prestigious global motorsports event and the races in Japan and Shanghai China serve as a great platform for us to enhance the awareness of the Aviva brand in Asia. We will be inviting over 300 customers and partners to the event in Shanghai. This allows us to connect with them via our shared passion for teamwork, innovation and performance. We look forward to treating them to a unique experience.”