Girolami scores on impressive WTCC debut Bratislava, June 21, 2015 Néstor Girolami showcased impressive pace on his FIA World Touring Car Championship debut this weekend, scoring a point for Honda Racing team Sweden at the Slovakia Ring. The highly-rated Argentine Súper TC2000 champion swiftly settled into life on the international touring car arena, qualifying within 0.001 seconds of works Honda driver Tiago Monteiro – a winner last time out in WTCC Race of Russia. The effort, however, only yielded 18th place on the grids for the weekend’s two races as set-up issues and compensation weight affected the overall performance. In Sunday’s opening 11-lap encounter, Girolami then used refined settings to full effect, making up four places on the opening lap alone and later passing Chevrolet’s Stefano D’Aste in the twisty infield section of the circuit. By the fall of the chequered flag, Girolami had hauled himself up to tenth place, scoring one world championship point at the first time of asking. In the subsequent Race 2, the 26-year-old miraculously avoided contact with Ma Qing Hua’s stalled Citroën at the start, and went on to narrowly miss out on another points finish in 11th. The WTCC field now moves on to France’s Circuit Paul Ricard, where the next round of the season is set to take place in just one week’s time. Honda Racing team Sweden regular Rickard Rydell will return to driving duties in France. RESULTS WTCC Race of Slovakia | Slovakia Ring Race 1: Race 2: 1: Yvan Muller (France/Citroën), 11 laps 1: Sébastien Loeb (France/Citroën), 11 laps 10: Néstor Girolami (ARG/Honda), +34.695s 11: Néstor Girolami (ARG/Honda), +32.150s CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS After 6/12 rounds 1: José María López (Argentina/Citroën), 239 p. 2: Yvan Muller (France/Citroën), 209 p. 3: Sébastien Loeb (France/Citroën), 178 p. 18: Rickard Rydell (Sweden/Honda), 3 p. 21: Néstor Girolami (Argentina/Honda), 1 p. Néstor Girolami (driver) ”I am really happy to have scored a point in my first-ever race in the WTCC. We made a huge leap from qualifying to the races and the car felt very good today. I was extremely close to collecting Ma Qing Hua at the start of Race 2, but managed to avoid him with a few centimetres to spare. It was an exciting debut, that’s for sure! It has been an incredible experience this weekend and I have to say big thanks to the team for making this dream come true.” Nicklas Karlsson (team principal) ”I think Néstor has demonstrated to everyone just why he is so highly rated by people within this sport. Coming into the WTCC mid-season, with no experience of the car or the championship as such, and score a point in your very first race is just massively impressive. He hasn’t put a wheel wrong all weekend, he challenged the factory Hondas in qualifying, and then used a much-improved car on Sunday to go from 18th to tenth in Race 1. We are very happy with his performance, of course, and we will be looking to build on that with Rickard at Paul Ricard next weekend.” CONTACT DETAILS FURTHER INFORMATION Nicklas Karlsson (team principal) | T: +46 (0)73-342 83 83 www.hondaracingteamsweden.se Stefan Lindberg (sporting director) | T: +46 (0)70-587 93 35 www.honda.se Mattias Persson (PR/media) | T: +46 (0)73-267 16 83 www.fiawtcc.com Maria Johansson (Honda Sweden) | T: +46 (0)73-699 07 09 HONDA RACING TEAM SWEDEN Sweden’s only world championship-level motor racing outfit. Announced at a press conference in Stockholm in early 2014, the project has come to fruition thanks to the combined efforts of Honda Sweden and specialist motorsport squad NIKA Racing, which competed in the WTCC back in 2013. Back then, the team managed to claim an impressive three overall race wins despite holding privateer status, but a radical rules overhaul ahead of 2014 saw the arrival of the new TC1 era – which heralds a set of entirely new challenges for the Honda Racing team Sweden venture. NIKA Racing also ran Rickard Rydell to the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship title. www.hondaracingteamsweden.se RICKARD RYDELL 47-year-old Rickard Rydell is one of Sweden’s most experienced and successful racing drivers of the modern era, having clinched titles in both the British (1998) and Scandinavian (2011) Touring Car Championships and becoming the first-ever Swede to claim victory in the prestigious Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in China (1992). Rydell raced full-time in the WTCC between 2005 and 2009, with 2015 marking his return to the international touring car arena as he embarks on an all-Swedish attack on the world championship – flying the flag for Honda Racing team Sweden. www.rickardrydell.com HONDA CIVIC TC1 WTCC Rickard Rydell’s weapon for the 2015 WTCC campaign is a brand new Honda Civic TC1 WTCC, built to the latest and most advanced set of technical regulations. The car had its shakedown test at Italian Honda tuner JAS Motorsport’s facilities on the outskirts of Milan in late February, before being flown to the curtain-raising round in Argentina. The introduction of the TC1 regulations in 2014 has made WTCC cars faster – and more spectacular – than ever before. FIA WTCC The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is sanctioned by international motorsport governing body the FIA, and currently features entries from Honda, Citroën, Lada and Chevrolet. The 2015 WTCC campaign boosts 12 rounds staged all across the world, taking teams and drivers to a wide variety of venues and exotic locations. Among new additions to the calendar are Buriram, Thailand, and a season-ending visit to Qatar, while a much-talked-about mid-May appearance at the fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife promises its own fair share of drama. www.fiawtcc.com 2015 CALENDAR WTCC Race 1: Argentina (Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo) 6-8 March Race 2: Morocco (Circuit Moulay El Hassan) 17-19 April Race 3: Hungary (Hungaroring) 1-3 May Race 4: Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife) 15-16 May Race 5: Russia (Moscow) 5-7 June Race 6: Slovakia (Slovakia Ring) 19-21 June Race 7: France (Paul Ricard) 26-28 June Race 8: Portugal (Vila Real) 10-12 July Race 9: Japan 11-13 September Race 10: China (Shanghai) 25-27 September Race 11: Thailand (Buriram) 30 October-1 November Race 12: Qatar (Losail) 20-22 November CONTACT DETAILS FURTHER INFORMATION Nicklas Karlsson (team principal) | T: +46 (0)73-342 83 83 www.hondaracingteamsweden.se Stefan Lindberg (sporting director) | T: +46 (0)70-587 93 35 www.honda.se Mattias Persson (PR/media) | T: +46 (0)73-267 16 83 www.fiawtcc.com Maria Johansson (Honda Sweden) | T: +46 (0)73-699 07 09 .