DATA KIT 2019 NINGBO INTERNATIONAL SPEEDPARK, 13-15 SEPTEMBER 2019 CONTENTS 2 Essential information 84 Fastest laps 2019 3 Key timings 85 TAG Heuer Best Laps 2019 4 Race recap 2018 86 TAG Heuer MVDs 2019 5 Results reminder 2018 87 Driver statistics breakdown 2019 6 Entry list 89 Second-place finishes 2019 7 Gabriele Tarquini facts/stats 90 Third-place finishes 2019 10 Norbert Michelisz facts/stats 91 Second-place breakdown 2019 13 Augusto Farfus facts/stats 92 Third-place breakdown 2019 16 Attila Tassi facts/stats 93 Title leaders (drivers) 2019 18 Niels Langeveld facts/stats 94 Team statistics at a glance 2019 20 Thed Björk facts/stats 95 Team statistics breakdown 2019 23 Rob Huff facts/stats 97 Title leaders (teams) 2019 26 Johan Kristoffersson facts/stats 98 Wildcards 2019 28 Tiago Monteiro facts/stats 99 Race-by-race 2019 31 Aurélien Panis facts/stats 103 WTCR 2019 in numbers 33 Frédéric Vervisch facts/stats 104 Final Drivers’ standings 2018 36 Mehdi Bennani facts/stats 105 Final Team’ standings 2018 38 Néstor Girolami facts/stats 106 Race and pole winners 2018 41 Kevin Ceccon facts/stats 107 Reverse-grid poles/F laps 2018 44 Benjamin Leuchter facts/stats 108 TAG Heuer B Laps/MVDS 2018 47 Daniel Haglöf facts/stats 109 Driver statistics at a glance 2018 50 Tom Coronel facts/stats 110 Team statistics at a glance 2018 53 Gordon Shedden facts/stats 111 Driver statistics breakdown 2018 56 Ma Qinghua facts/stats 113 Team statistics breakdown 2018 59 Yann Ehrlacher facts/stats 115 Race-by-race 2018 61 Jean-Karl Vernay facts/stats 119 Second-place finishes 2018 64 Esteban Guerrieri facts/stats 120 Third-place finishes 2018 67 Nicky Catsburg facts/stats 121 Second/third breakdown 2018 70 Mikel Azcona facts/stats 122 Title leaders (drivers) 2018 72 Yvan Muller facts/stats 123 Wildcards 2018 75 Andy Priaulx facts/stats 124 Lap record holders (qualifying) 78 Drivers’ standings after 18/30 125 Lap record holders (race) 79 Teams’ standings after 18/30 126 Race distances 2019 80 Driver statistics at a glance 2019 127 WTCR explained 81 Race winners 2019 128 Calendar 2019 82 DHL Pole Position Award 2019 129 What’s new for 2019? 83 Reverse-grid poles 2019 132 Contacts 1 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW THE ESSENTIALS Rounds: 19-21 of 30 Venue: Ningbo International Speedpark Date: 13-15 September 2019 Location: Yanhai Middle Road, Chuanxiao, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Length: 4.010 kilometres Time zone: GMT +8 hours Race 1 distance: 13 laps (52.130 kilometres) Race 2 distance: 13 laps (52.130 kilometres) Race 3 distance: 16 laps (64.160 kilometres) WTCR qualifying lap record: Thed Björk (Hyundai i30 N TCR), 1m50.371s (130.70kph), 30/09/18 WTCR race lap record: Thed Björk (Hyundai i30 N TCR), 1m51.640s (129.30kph), 30/09/18 THE CHALLENGE Located in Chunxiao in the rapidly-expanding Beilun coastal development near Ningbo – a major port and industrial city with a population of more than seven million – in Zhejiang province, the track opened in time for WTCC Race of China in October 2017 following more than a year of construction work at a cost of 950-million CNY (122 million euros). Around 500 people were involved in turning what was a disused quarry into a state-of-the-art venue, which is built to FIA and FIM Grade 2 standards. It runs in an anti-clockwise direction, is between 12-18 metres in width and features 21 turns. FROM BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH ESTEBAN GUERRIERI “It’s very, very technical and quite challenging in almost every part particularly in the first and last sectors where it’s really quite tricky. In 2017 it was new asphalt so no grip and that meant it was difficult to find the limits. There is a triple right-hander in sector one, which is going up after a left. It’s very difficult going uphill and then downhill and it’s difficult to get it right. Then in the last sector there is a downhill section where you have a blind corner. The front-right of the car stays in the air but the front-left of the splitter always brushes the surface. Because you have a lot of corners that are connected one after the other, if the car is washing away at the front it’s difficult to point it in the direction you want to go so you need a good front end.” 2 PROVISIONAL KEY TIMINGS*: WTCR RACE OF CHINA Friday 13 September Free Practice 1: 17h00-17h45 Pre-event press conference (Media Centre): 18h05 Saturday 14 September Free Practice 2: 09h00-09h30 First Qualifying: 11h00-11h30 First Qualifying DHL Media Zone (pitlane): 11h30-11h40 (estimated) Autograph session: 12h30-13h20 (Fan Zone behind grandstand) Race 1: 15h40 (13 laps) Race 1 podium: 16h15 (estimated) Race 1 press conference (Media Centre): 16h30 (estimated) Sunday 15 September Second Qualifying Q1: 09h00-09h20 Second Qualifying Q2: 09h25-09h35 Second Qualifying Q3: 09h40 (first car starts top five DHL Pole Position shootout) Second Qualifying DHL Media Zone (pitlane): 09h45-10h00 (estimated) Autograph session: 10h00-10h15 (Fan Zone behind grandstand) Race 2: 14h30 (13 laps) Race 2 podium: 15h10 Race 3: 15h50 (16 laps) Race 3 podium: 16h35 Race 2/3 press conference (Media Centre): 16h50 (estimated) *All timings are local (GMT +8 hours) and subject to change 3 RACE RECAP 2018 Weekend in short *Björk scores victory double to narrow Tarquini’s title advantage to eight points *Race 2 winner Muller just one point further back behind YMR team-mate Björk *Dupont flies to first podium as Comtoyou Audi squad excels *Podium in Race 2 signals Bennani’s return to form Weekend report: Thed Björk delivered a WTCR OSCARO masterclass with two poles and two wins as the China double-header began in spectacular fashion. The Swede was in sublime form with victories in Race 1 and 3, while team-mate and team boss Yvan Muller bagged the spoils in Race 2. After finishing fourth in Race 1, early contact in Race 2 left BRC Racing Team’s Gabriele Tarquini on the sidelines. However, he bounced back to finish second to Björk in Race 3 to ensure the championship lead remains his. Tarquini’s cause was aided when Muller retired from Race 3 with suspension damage and a puncture following contact. Esteban Guerrieri was a double podium visitor for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport after two strong displays. However, the Argentine was denied a third top-three when contact with Norbert Michelisz early in Race 3 forced him out. Mehdi Bennani signalled his return to form following his huge crash at WTCR Race of Portugal with second place in the reverse-grid Race 2. Denis Dupont helped to ensure there were four different customer racing brands in the top four in Race 2 before landing his maiden WTCR OSCARO podium with a fine drive from sixth to third in Race 3. Team-mate Frédéric Vervisch was third in Race 1. Elsewhere, double DTM champion Timo Scheider just missed out on a top-10 twice as his Münnich team worked flat out to ensure Yann Ehrlacher could start Race 3 following damage sustained in a collision with China’s Ma Qing Hua on the final lap of Race 2. Ma, who like Scheider was making his WTCR debut, showed plenty of promise but the contact with Ehrlacher was too hard to make the start of Race 3. Winning quote: “It was a fantastic race from the start, just flying way from the others and having a race by myself,” said Björk, following his Race 3 win. “I must be really happy with the team, who work so hard putting the car together all the time. It felt so good, in the window [of performance] all the time and I just had to drive. When we have such a long summer break and still so many points to fight for, the goal was to get back [in the title fight] as soon as possible, be on the edge and see where I can go. Some of the tracks that are coming are really nice.” 4 Results reminder: DHL Pole Position Race 1: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR Race 1 winner: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR Race 1 fastest lap: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR DHL Pole Position Race 2: Mehdi Bennani (MAR) Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR Race 2 winner: Yvan Muller (FRA) Hyundai i30 N TCR Race 2 fastest lap: Yvan Muller (FRA) Hyundai i30 N TCR DHL Pole Position Race 3: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR Race 3 winner: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR Race 3 fastest lap: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR TAG Heuer Best Lap Trophy: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR TAG Heuer Most Valuable Driver: Thed Björk (SWE) Hyundai i30 N TCR 5 #WTCR2019SUPERGRID LINE-UP N° Team Driver (NAT) Car 1 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) Hyundai i30 N TCR 5 BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse Norbert Michelisz (HUN) Hyundai i30 N TCR 8 BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Augusto Farfus (BRA) Hyundai i30 N TCR 9 KCMG Attila Tassi (HUN) Honda Civic Type R TCR 10 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Niels Langeveld (NLD) Audi RS 3 LMS 11 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Thed Björk (SWE) Lynk & Co 03 TCR 12 SLR VW Motorsport Rob Huff (GBR) Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR 14 SLR Volkswagen Johan Kristoffersson (SWE) Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR 18 KCMG Tiago Monteiro (PRT) Honda Civic Type R TCR 21 Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing Aurélien Panis (FRA) CUPRA TCR 22 Comtoyou Team Audi Sport Frédéric Vervisch (BEL) Audi RS 3 LMS 25 SLR VW Motorsport Mehdi Bennani (MAR) Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR 29 ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport Néstor Girolami (ARG) Honda Civic Type R TCR 31 Team Mulsanne Kevin Ceccon (ITA) Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR 33 SLR Volkswagen Benjamin Leuchter (DEU) Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR 37 PWR Racing Daniel Haglöf (SWE) CUPRA TCR 50 Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing Tom Coronel (NLD) CUPRA TCR 52 Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport Gordon Shedden (GBR) Audi RS 3 LMS 55 Team Mulsanne Ma Qinghua (CHN) Alfa Romeo Giulietta