FIRST DRIVERS POINTS FOR ROB HUFF AND NICOLA LARINI

[Efratech]

FIRST DRIVERS POINTS FOR ROB HUFF AND NICOLA LARINI

Chevrolet Lacetti WTC Near The Front All Weekend Long

AMOZOC , PUEBLA, 26 June 2005 ? Chevrolet drivers Rob Huff and Nicola Larini wrote another important chapter in Chevrolet?s 2005 WTCC campaign by both scoring points in rounds nine and ten of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship in Mexico, today. In front of a sold-out Autodromo Miguel E Abed, Huff finished sixth in the first of today?s races, scoring three points, while Larini scored one point in race two. After yesterday?s first ever top ten qualifying position today?s result marks another major step forward in Chevrolet?s first year of touring car racing.

?That was a good race,? a very happy Rob Huff said after finishing sixth in the first race. ?I just kept it tidy and clean and tried to finish as close to the front as I could. Driving in the points and really wanting to finish there I didn?t push at all, because if you start pushing you lock up the front wheels and risk losing the car. Five or six laps from the end I started changing line and hooking the kerbs in the infield and the car just ran like on rails. I managed to pass Terting for fifth, but then I ran wide in one corner and he passed me again.?

Nicola Larini came close to finishing in the points in race one. ?I had a good race, but I had some fuel pressure problems just after I had passed Farfus and was going for Coronel. Two or three times this happened so I had to settle for tenth. It?s a pity because I tried to finish in eighth position so I could start from the front row in race two.?

Alain Menu?s first race was cut short by a race incident early on. ?Coronel ran wide in one corner, and Terting, just in front of me, passed him. I followed Terting through the gap, but then Coronel closed the door on me and hit me, bending the steering arm.? The RML mechanics got Alain back out again in race one, but the Swiss driver didn?t have time enough to do enough laps to be classified at the finish.

With the top eight finishers being reversed on the grid for race two, Rob Huff could start from third position. He lost two places at the start and another in the second lap, but settled in sixth on his way to a second consecutive points scoring finish. Unfortunately it wasn?t to be as he spun off the track on the sixth lap of the race. ?The water temperature was running high the lap before, so I think a water line broke, spilling water on the rear tyres, causing the spin. I was driving cleanly on the line and all of a sudden someone pulled the handbrake, putting me into the gravel trap,? he said.

Larini fought his way to seventh, fending off several attacks and scoring his first 2005 points, while Menu soldiered on to 13 th. ?I did what I could, considering I started at the back of the grid.?

Chevrolet Europe?s Motorsport Manager, Eric N?ve, was very pleased with today?s results. ?I am very impressed by Rob?s race,? he said, ?especially by the way the handled the pressure from real touring car references like Dirk M?ller. The first fly-away event of the year brings us our first points in the drivers championship. At the same time I have to congratulate the organisers for having made all the amendments the drivers and teams asked for, and for putting up a very good show.?



PUEBLA RACE 1 RESULTS

1
F Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo)
17 laps in 26m06s219 (Average: 118.390kph)
2
G Tarquini (Alfa Romeo)
+ 2s172
3
R Rydell (SEAT)
+ 11s525
4
J Thompson (Alfa Romeo)
+ 13s298
5
A Garcia (BMW)
+ 13s772
13
R Huff (Chevrolet)
+ 15s658
14
N Larini (Chevrolet)
+ 25s072
NCF
A Menu (Chevrolet)
+ 10 laps



PUEBLA RACE 2 RESULTS

1
P Terting (SEAT)
17 laps in 26m10s825 (Average: 118.050kph)
2
A Garcia (BMW)
+ 0s693
DQ
R Colciago (Honda)
+ 7s461
3
F Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo)
+ 7s578
4
J Thompson (Alfa Romeo)
+ 11s621
5
T Coronel (Honda)
+ 13s038
11
N Larini (Chevrolet)
+ 17s091
15
A Menu (Chevrolet)
+ 25s176
DNF
R Huff (Chevrolet)
Off (6 laps)



2005 WTCC DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS (After 8 races)

1
D M?ller (BMW)
47 points
2
F Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo)
44 points
3
A Priaulx (BMW)
41 points
4
A Garcia (BMW)
39 points
5
G Tarquini (Alfa Romeo)
38 points
16
R Huff (Chevrolet)
3 points
17
N Larini (Chevrolet)
2 points



2005 WTCC MANUFACTURERS POINTS STANDINGS (After 8 races)

1 ex.
BMW and Alfa Romeo
129 points
3
Seat
98 points
4
Chevrolet
32 points
5
Ford
2 points

[kinkyllama]

DAMN, 4TH! WOOO@