TITLE CONTENDERS ON EQUAL WEIGHT
Gabriele Tarquini, Yvan Muller and Augusto Farfus are the only three men
in contention to clinch the Drivers' World Championship. Altogether they
have won 12 out of the 22 races held so far and in Macau they will face
each other for the final fight on equal weight.
In fact, according to the calculation that took into account the lap
times set in the three previous events (Oschersleben, Imola and Okayama),
the SEAT Leon TDI and the BMW 320si cars will receive the maximum 40kg
compensation weight.
The Chevrolet Cruze's ballast is reduced from +30 to +10kg, while
Alessandro Zanardi's BMW 320si (equipped with a sequential gearbox), the
LADA Priora and the petrol-powered SEAT Leon will have 20kg deducted from
the minimum weight.
Compensation weights Macau
+ 40 kg BMW 320si, SEAT Leon TDI
+ 10 kg Chevrolet Cruze LT
- 20 kg BMW 320si Zanardi, LADA Priora, SEAT Leon TFSI
BOTH WORLD TITLES STILL AT STAKE
Both, the Drivers' and Manufacturers' world titles are still at stake in
the final meeting at Macau.
SEAT leads BMW by three points only in the Manufacturers' Championship, a
very slim margin that promises two breathtaking races.
In the Drivers' Championship the gap is even smaller between SEAT Sport
team-mates Gabriele Tarquini (the current leader) and Yvan Muller (the
reigning champion). BMW team Germany's Augusto Farfus can still have a
shot at the crown, as he lies third, 13 points behind Tarquini.
WHAT IF.
* Gabriele Tarquini wins the title:
- at 47 he would become the oldest ever FIA World Champion, one year
older than Juan-Manuel Fangio when he won his fifth Formula One title in
1957 and two years older than Derek Bell when he won the 1986 World
Sportscars Championship;
- he would be the first Italian to become World Champion in circuit
racing, 18 years after Teo Fabi in the 1991 World Sportscars
Championship;
- he would become the eighth Italian automobile World Champion after Nino
Farina and Alberto Ascari (F1), Mauro Baldi and Teo Fabi (Sportscars),
Roberto Ravaglia (Touring Cars), Sandro Munari and Miki Biasion (Rally).
* Yvan Muller wins the title:
- he would be the third Frenchman to win back to back FIA World
Championships after Alain Prost (F1 - 1985 and 1986) and Sebastien Loeb
(WRC - from 2004 to 2009).
* Augusto Farfus wins the title:
- he would be the first Brazilian World Champion in motor sport, 18 years
after Ayrton Senna in the 1991 Formula One Championship;
- he would be the fifth Brazilian automobile World Champion after Emerson
Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna (F1) and Raul Boesel
(Sportscars).
LIQUI MOLY ADD THREE LOCALS IN MACAU
Liqui Moly Team Engstler will run three additional BMW 320SI cars for
local drivers at Macau. Alongside regulars Franz Engstler - who is
fighting for a podium position in the Independents' Trophy - and Kristian
Poulsen, the German outfit will field Henry Ho, Liu Lic Ka and Joseph
Rosa Merszei.
Ho, 27 years old and three times winner of the Macau Touring Car
Championship, already joined the team in the previous event at Okayama,
scoring one point in the Independents' Throphy by finishing eighth in
Race 1.
Both Liu Lic Ka (38 years old) and Joe Merszei (35) are facing their
maiden WTCC appearance. The former is also a regular in the Macau Touring
Cars, while the latter has mostly driven singleseaters in the Malaysian
Formula Campus and the Asian F2000, Formula V6, Formula Renault and
Formula 3 series.
TAKAYUKI AOKI RETURNS TO WIECHERS-SPORT
Japanes driver Takayuki Aoki will make his return to WTCC and the
Wiechers-Sport team for the event in Macau.
Aoki made his first WTCC appearance last year, when he raced in the three
final race meetings at the wheel of a Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si. His best
results were two fourth places in the Independents' Race 1 at Monza and
Okayama.
This year he joins the team's regular Stefano D'Aste and will face among
the others his fellow countryman Nobuteru Taniguchi who drives a BMW car
run by Proteam Motorsport.
LEI KIT MENG JOINS THE WTCC FIELD
Macanese driver Lei Kit Meng was the last addition to the strong 29-car
field that will take part in the final meeting at Macau.
The 42-year-old Lei will race a BMW 320si run jointly by China Dragon
Racing and RPM Racing Team Macau. This is the same car that took part in
last year's WTCC events at Okayama and Macau in the hands of Melvin Choo
from Singapore.
Lei's racing career includes seasons in the Asian, Chinese and Macau
Touring Car series as well as a number of participations in the Macau
Formula 3 Grand Prix.
COUNTDOWN: - 9 DAYS to the 2009 FIA WTCC Marriott Guia Race of Macau - 20th / 22nd November,
in Macau
-credit: wtcc
