08.03.2003 ALFA ROMEO SET THE PACE AT ETCC BARCELONA TEST
| March 6th and 7th saw a
two-day official test session for the cars of the FIA GT Championship and
the FIA European Touring Car Championship take place at the Circuit de
Catalunya in Barcelona. These two days of intensive testing for the teams
also included a press conference to officially launch the 2003 season of
the LG Super Racing Weekend and a Media Day, with an hour of laps around
the circuit for members of the press, on board a variety of cars. These
included a Wieth Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello, an Alda Motorsport Porsche
911 GT3 Cup, a Seat Leon Supercup, Clio V6 Trophy and Clio Cup cars, as
well as the spectacular Formula Renault 2000 two-seater, driven by Renault
Formula One Test driver Franck Montagny, who also did some demonstration
laps on board the new Formula Renault V6 single-seater.
Alfa Romeo Autodelta drivers Nicola Larini and Gabriele Tarquini set the pace in the FIA ETCC official test days. Sixteen drivers took part in the test, at the wheel of ten cars, with five different Manufacturers represented. Tarquini emerged as the fastest driver on day one, setting a time of 1:54.77, but his team-mate Larini improved on his time on Friday, going down to 1:54.41. The BMW drivers were not much slower, with Jorg Muller fastest at the wheel of the German car in 1:54.80. Although the ART Engineering Volvo S60 and the PRO Motorsport Honda Civic were forced an early stop due to technical problems, Rickard Rydell and Andre Couto were able to set encouraging times. Jordi Gene and Frank Diefenbacher continued to develop the new SEAT Toledo Cupra. THE ALFA 156 GTA STILL THE FASTEST CAR Alfa Romeo is not yet ready to vacate the FIA ETCC throne. The Italian car appears to still be the fastest in the field, as proved by the times set by Nicola Larini and Gabriele Tarquini in Barcelona. The latter was the only driver capable of breaking the 1:55 barrier on Thursday, being clocked at 1:54.77. The day after, in the early morning, Larini improved that time to an excellent 1:54.41, which remained the fastest time over the two days. He then went off into the gravel trap at the exit of the final corner, damaging the new front splitter; this also resulted in a blown engine as some gravel became lodged in the driving belt. The Autodelta crew replaced both the splitter and the engine, but the 156 GTA's performance appeared to have been affected in some way, as when Tarquini took the wheel in the afternoon, his best time was 1:56.69, while the team's third man Roberto Colciago could only achieve a disappointing 1:57.08, exactly one second slower than the time he had set on day one. The Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156 GTA was running its definitive 2003 configuration. BMW DRIVERS CHASE THE ALFA MEN A number of BMW drivers are already chasing the Alfa Romeo men. Jorg and Dirk Muller, at the wheel of their Schnitzer-built 320i cars, set the pace. The former was timed at 1:55.00 on Thursday, then improved to 1:54.80 on Friday before an incident with a Porsche 996 GT3-R put him off the track. Dirk's fastest time was 1:55.21 on the first day, but a blown engine prevented him from improving on day two (1:56.37). Antonio Garcia proved his skill and his knowledge of the track, being consistently fast in a Ravaglia Motorsport car; the young Spaniard clocked a good 1:55.81 on Thursday and was able to cut a further half-a-second on Friday, going down to 1:55.32. His team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi's fastest time was 1:55.61 on Thursday; on the second day the reigning FIA ETCC champion could not improve on a time of 1:55.96 due to a blown engine. At RBM Andy Priaulx continued his apprenticeship; the Briton set his best time on day one (1:56.49), while his times remained higher on Friday (1:57.28). Finally, Tom Coronel and Duncan Huisman took turns at the wheel of the Carly Motors car. On Thursday Coronel was timed at 1:55.78, on Friday Huisman set his fastest lap at 1:56.02. The Mullers, Giovanardi and Priaulx were testing 2003 cars, while Garcia, Coronel and Huisman were still at the wheel of 2002 cars. SEAT TOLEDO REDUCES THE GAP Jordi Gene and Frank Diefenbacher worked very hard to develop the new SEAT Toledo Cupra, which was in the traditional SEAT Sport yellow-and-grey livery for the first time. After the disappointing test in Monza, the Spanish car showed considerable progress, cutting its gap to the Alfa and BMW cars by more than half. On day one, Gene set his fastest lap with a time of 1:57.70. Most of the second day was spent experimenting with new set-up solutions. Gene's times remained higher (with a best time of 1:58.82), while Diefenbacher had his first real drive in the car and improved from the 2:00.20 he set on Thursday, to a promising 1:58.07. "We still have to work very hard. Next week we'll be testing in Nogaro with a new engine that should help us to gain a further six or seven tenths. But our main concern remains the rear suspension; it is very difficult to find the right set-up for the Toledo's beam axle scheme. And this obviously means that we'll have to wait a bit before being in a position to threaten Alfa Romeo and BMW supremacy in the Championship," declared Gene. RYDELL PLEASED WITH THE VOLVO ART Engineering ran the Volvo S60 for the first time. The Italian team tested only one of the Prodrive-built Swedish cars, still in the same configuration as during the final round of the 2002 Championship in Estoril. Rickard Rydell drove for most of the time, setting a very good time of 1:56.07 on Thursday. The day after he was timed at 1:58.39, before a gearbox failure stopped him. Both the Swedish driver and team-principal Paolo Alessandrini were very pleased by the best time. "I only had five laps on new tyres otherwise I think I could have lapped in the mid 1:55s," said Rydell. Sandro Sardelli, the team's second driver, only completed a couple of laps in the car, setting a time of 2:01.96. Over the next days ART Engineering will update the two cars, fitting the latest engine step, the Hewland six-speed sequential gearbox and several suspension changes. COUTO IMPRESSES IN THE HONDA Unidentified electric problems drastically shortened the testing for the PRO Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R. During the first day Macanese single-seater star Andre Couto had his first drive in the Japanese car. After the Scottish team -- assisted by JAS Motorsport technicians -- solved a gearbox problem, Couto set an impressive time of 1:56.26. "We were quite satisfied, considering that it was my only attempt with a perfectly working car," Couto said. Later in the day, Charles Hall had only one flying lap and was timed at 2:02.57, which was a good effort as he had never driven a Touring Car before and he did not know the Catalunya racetrack. PRO Motorsport had planned to give both drivers more time in the car on Friday, but the Honda engine refused to start and the team gave up after many attempts to identify the electric bug. Like the Volvo, the Civic had not yet been modified since the end of last season. |
| FIA ETCC TEST DAYS TIMES
1. Larini (Alfa Romeo) 1:54.41
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ALFA ROMEO 156 GTA SUPERTOURING 2000:
2003 SPECIFICATION
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