http://www.gpupdate.net/ Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:44:47 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/258084/monteiro-to-dub-hamilton-s-cars-2-character/ Former Jordan and Midland Formula 1 racer Tiago Monteiro will be providing his voice for this year’s new Cars 2, which will appear in UK cinemas from mid-July. Now driving in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), he will be dubbing for Lewis Hamilton’s character in the Portuguese version of the movie. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/258084/monteiro-to-dub-hamilton-s-cars-2-character/ Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:19:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/photo-galleries/6872/wtcc-brazil-2011-sunday/ http://www.gpupdate.net/en/photo-galleries/6872/wtcc-brazil-2011-sunday/ Sun, 20 Mar 2011 19:39:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/254948/menu-fends-off-coronel-to-win-second-race/ Alain Menu was able to resist a strong challenge from Tom Coronel to secure victory in the second race of the opening round in Curitiba on Sunday. The Swiss driver produced some excellent driving to lead home Coronel, who was able to claim his first podium finish in the category behind the wheel of his new BMW. The top ten finishers from Saturday's first qualifying session were reversed, gifting Menu with pole position in his works Chevrolet. However, a poor start would make life difficult for the Swiss driver, and a dramatic race long battle with Coronel began. Menu quickly got back past Gabriele Tarquini for second, and set about regaining the lead. As the race wore on Menu was able to close in on Coronel, edging his machine ahead after making contact with the Dutchman. A battle to the flag ensued with Menu narrowly getting the better of the pair by a margin of just 0.265 seconds. Yvan Muller was able to complete the rostrum behind them, adding to his second place finish in the first race. Robert Huff was next up, with the Race 1 winner taking fourth place at the chequered flag. He was followed by Carlos Bueno in fifth, and Gabriele Tarquini who had to settle for sixth after a strong start. His team-mate Tiago Monteiro was a few seconds down the road, with Javier Villa the second BMW to finish in eighth. Just as he did in the opening race of the day, Franz Engstler ended his time at the wheel in ninth, with Pepe Oriola the last man inside the top ten. As the WTCC paddock prepares to travel to Zolder in Belgium, Huff currently sits at the top of the standings with 37 points, four ahead of Menu in second place. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/254948/menu-fends-off-coronel-to-win-second-race/ Sun, 20 Mar 2011 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/254940/huff-leads-chevrolet-trio-in-race-1/ Rob Huff claimed victory in the first race of the weekend at Curitiba on Sunday afternoon, as the Chevrolet driver led home team-mates Yvan Muller and local favourite Carlos Bueno. The 31-year-old Briton kept his lead on Lap 1 and went on to take victory during the first race of the season by a margin of 0.873 seconds. Typically humid weather greeted the drivers ahead of the start, with the 14 lap race getting underway at 1pm local time (GMT -3). Huff was able to take full advantage of the pole position grid slot he earned in Saturday qualifying, and despite being closely followed by Muller for the whole race, he had enough pace available to prevent the current World Champion from getting past. Tom Coronel battled his way up to fourth by the end of the race, but the Dutchman was almost thirteen seconds behind the leading trio up front. Kristian Poulsen had to settle for fifth after a costly mistake, with the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver giving Coronel the opportunity to claim the position at the flag. After a difficult qualifying session at the Brazilian venue yesterday, Alain Menu was able make amends and claim sixth place at the chequered flag. The 47-year-old will be relishing the opportunity to start from pole position later this afternoon, with the Race 2 grid now formed by reversing the top ten finishers from Q1. Gabriele Tarquini was next up in seventh, with Michel Nykjaer crossing the line only half a second behind the Italian. The top ten was completed by Franz Engstler and Mehdi Bannani, with the pair grabbing the last points on offer after narrowly getting the better of Tiago Monteiro and Robert Dahlgren in 11th and 12th respectively. Race two at Curitiba begins at 2.15pm local time (GMT -3) http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/254940/huff-leads-chevrolet-trio-in-race-1/ Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:28:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/254888/huff-grabs-pole-for-opening-race/ Robert Huff claimed pole position for the first race at Curitiba on Sunday, with the Cambridge-born man leading fellow Chevrolet drivers Yvan Muller and Carlos Bueno by a comfortable margin at the end of the second qualifying session. After an encouraging start to the weekend during practice, Huff is now in the perfect position to fight for victory tomorrow afternoon. Alain Menu was a notable omission from the second session after the new look qualifying format got underway, as the Swiss driver narrowly failed to make the Q2 cut at the wheel of his works Chevrolet Cruze. However, it has since been confirmed that the Frenchman will take tenth place on tomorrow’s grid – and will also inherit the reverse grid pole for race two – due to Fredy Barth incurring a penalty. During the final session a number of drivers had off track excursions as rain began to fall at the Brazilian venue, including 2010 runner-up Gabriele Tarquini. Huff was able to master the changeable conditions however, setting a time of 1:21.758 to see off the rest of the competition by almost four tenths of a second. Denmark’s Michel Nykjaer finished behind Muller and Bueno in fourth, just ahead of compatriot Kristian Poulsen for Liqui Moly Team Engstler. Tarquini was next up ahead of ex-Midland F1 driver Tiago Monteiro, with Tom Coronel, Franz Engstler and Menu rounding out the top ten after Barth’s penalty. The first WTCC race of the season begins tomorrow at 1pm local time (GMT -3) http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/254888/huff-grabs-pole-for-opening-race/ Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:39:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/250617/englstler-and-poulsen-join-forces-in-2011/ Team Engstler and Poulsen Motorsport will merge together for the upcoming World Touring Car Championship, following the decision from both independent BMW outfit’s to join forces for the 2011 campaign. Franz Englstler and Kristian Poulsen will be racing with a new turbocharged 1.6-litre engine this season, with new unit being fitted to both of their BMW 320's. Poulsen is returning to Team Englstler after competing for the squad in 2009. Englstler Team Manager Kurt Treml commented: "We are happy to re-establish the co-operation with Kristian and his team. We are confident that this will give us good chances to successfully fight for the independent title once again." The WTCC season gets underway at Interlagos on the weekend of March 18-20. Poulsen and Englstler will be hoping to improve on last year's form, after finishing 14th and 17th respectively in the 2010 championship. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/250617/englstler-and-poulsen-join-forces-in-2011/ Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:58:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/249513/16-year-old-oriola-joins-wtcc/ Pepe Oriola, born in Barcelona on 9 July 1994, will in 2011 become the youngest driver ever to race in the World Touring Car Championship. The Spaniard has signed a deal with SUNRED Engineering to drive a SEAT León next season and is set to make his WTCC debut in Brazil on March 20 at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 11 days. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/249513/16-year-old-oriola-joins-wtcc/ Sat, 18 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/videos/631/wtcc-highlights-of-2010/ http://www.gpupdate.net/en/videos/631/wtcc-highlights-of-2010/ Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:00:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/248939/wtcc-remains-an-important-platform-for-bmw/ The FIA World Touring Car Championship remains an important platform for BMW racing strategies even though the German car manufacturer will pull out of WTCC with its factory team. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/248939/wtcc-remains-an-important-platform-for-bmw/ Mon, 06 Dec 2010 10:02:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/248654/webber-declared-as-brdc-gold-star-winner/ Formula 1’s Mark Webber has been promoted as this year’s BRDC Gold Star winner, with original beneficiary Andy Priaulx having lost the honour following an FIA investigation which resulted in the Guernseyman losing second place in the first race at Okayama, Japan. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/248654/webber-declared-as-brdc-gold-star-winner/ Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:19:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/248099/muller-wins-title-after-okayama-exclusions/ Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller has won the 2010 WTCC Drivers’ title after Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx were both excluded from last month’s event in Okayama. The decision was taken after Muller’s team lodged a protest with the FIA’s International Court of Appeal. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/248099/muller-wins-title-after-okayama-exclusions/ Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:00:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/246544/priaulx-wins-brdc-gold-star/ Andy Priaulx has been awarded this year’s Gold Star by the BRDC (British Racing Drivers’ Club), with the former triple World Touring Car Champion having finished only two points ahead of Formula 1 championship contender Mark Webber. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/246544/priaulx-wins-brdc-gold-star/ Sat, 06 Nov 2010 07:00:00 +0000 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/245878/macdowall-tests-2011-cruze/ Alex MacDowall made an enjoyable return to action at Snetterton in Norfolk last week after being tasked by Chevrolet to test the 2011 specification Cruze which will be campaigned in next year’s FIA World Touring Car Championship. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/245878/macdowall-tests-2011-cruze/ Tue, 26 Oct 2010 09:41:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/245010/huff-and-muller-test-new-chevrolet/ Rob Huff and Yvan Muller got the chance to test the new Chevrolet this week at Jerez in Spain and both were impressed with the 2011 model, which was equipped with the new 1.6 litre turbo engine. In total the team completed just over 1000 kilometres without any technical issues. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/245010/huff-and-muller-test-new-chevrolet/ Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:30:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/243785/chevrolet-names-line-up-for-2011/ Chevrolet and RML has announced its driver line-up for the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship, which remains unchanged, with Rob Huff, Alain Menu and Yvan Muller all returning next season at the wheel of the new Cruze 1.6 turbo cars. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/243785/chevrolet-names-line-up-for-2011/ Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:12:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/243782/volvo-confirms-wtcc-programme/ Volvo will compete in the FIA World Touring Car Championship full-time in 2011, it has been announced today. It follows the decision by the manufacturer to give the green light to Polestar Racing, official Volvo Motorsport partner since 1996, to enter a C30 car for Robert Dahlgren next year.  http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/243782/volvo-confirms-wtcc-programme/ Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:03:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/242784/liqui-moly-team-engstler-adds-third-car/ The Liqui Moly Team Engstler will add a third car for two Japanese drivers at the two final FIA World Touring Car Championship events of the season in Japan and Macau, it has been confirmed. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/242784/liqui-moly-team-engstler-adds-third-car/ Sat, 18 Sep 2010 03:00:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/242785/huff-begins-testing-new-2011-chevrolet-cruze/ Rob Huff completed the first shakedown with the new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze this week, running for two days at the MIRA proving ground and the Brit admitted it was a ‘very emotional moment’ both for him and the team. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/242785/huff-begins-testing-new-2011-chevrolet-cruze/ Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:22:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/242056/2011-wtcc-calendar-announced/ The World Motor Sport Council has confirmed the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship calendar following a meeting in Paris today and twelve events have been scheduled, with Argentina and China joining the fold. The addition of Argentina and China comes at the expense of Belgium and Mexico, the latter event cancelled earlier this year due to heavy flooding. http://www.gpupdate.net/en/world-touring-car-championship-news/242056/2011-wtcc-calendar-announced/ Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:34:00 +0100 http://www.gpupdate.net/en/videos/401/palmer-and-huff-star-in-car-swap/ http://www.gpupdate.net/en/videos/401/palmer-and-huff-star-in-car-swap/ Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:15:00 +0100