BMW Team RBM are looking to continue their recent run of form this weekend as the World Touring Car Championship heads to Valencia, Spain, to conclude the European leg of the season.
Andy Priaulx will be looking to put further pressure on series leader Yvan Muller of Chevrolet. Priaulx has reduced his deficit to Muller from 51 points to just 11 points over the last two race weekends.
Team Principal Bart Mampaey accepts that the Valencia circuit has never suited the BMW, and will therefore be happy if his team does not lose ground over the course of the weekend. He anticipates that the two Asian rounds in Japan and Macau will be kinder to his team.
“An intense weekend awaits our team in Spain this weekend. Naturally we aim to achieve good results with both cars. However, Valencia has never been a circuit that really suits the BMW. It would therefore be positive from a championship perspective if the gap to the leader did not increase. From that point, the Okayama circuit should suit us better. In fact, early on the Monday after the race in Valencia our equipment leaves by sea freight containers for Asia. This means our team has a lot of work ahead of it.”
Augusto Farfus currently sits sixth in the standings, and is in confident mood after taking two second-placed finishes at the last round in Oschersleben. “I like the Valencia circuit, and won here last year. However, it is certainly not easy to find the best set-up for this circuit. You need to have a sufficiently high top speed in order to ward off attacks from slipstreaming cars at the end of the long straight. Oschersleben has been a very important weekend for me. Now I hope to build on this in Spain.”
Priaulx is looking to simply score as many points as he can this weekend to put him in a good position heading towards the end of the season. “Of course it would be nice to pick up in Valencia where we left off with winning in Oschersleben. However, we have been quite successful this season with taking things as they come and not putting ourselves under too much pressure. From now on, every point can be crucial in the fight for the title. Therefore my first goal is to score in both races. Let’s wait and see what’s possible beyond that.”
