The WTCC is in Spain this weekend, at the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit in Valencia to be exact, where SEAT Sport and Repsol hope to get the results that their hard work deserves, this is in spite of the changes in the application of the rules by the FIA which have adversely affected the SEAT León TDI.
For this race, and coinciding with the round in Spain, SEAT Sport and Repsol will make a SEAT León TDI with a special decoration available to Jordi Gené; the whole car will be painted in the colours of the Spanish oil company.
In the last race in Pau the changes made to the turbo pressure limits, down to 2.5 bars (with no tolerance) left the team with no chance of being competitive as there was a big loss of power compared to the previous races when the limit was 2.9 bars. For the race in Valencia the FIA has established a new límit of 2.7 bars, and this was made public just seven days before the scrutiny. In spite of having little time to modify this aspect of the car, SEAT Sport has been working to adapt their cars to the new limit.
Moreover, the FIA has rectified and explained exactly how the rule regarding the limit on engine revolutions will be applied to all cars in the championship.
SEAT has stated that it does not agree with how the changes in the rules are being applied, the third since the start of the season, but at the same time says that it is committed to the WTCC championship, and will demonstrate this by trying to win the race in Cheste. As it has been impossible to do any tests since the FIA published the new way the rules are to be applied, the free practice session on the Saturday will be crucial.
This means that the five drivers and their five engineers will be working flat out to get the new set up on the León TDI. To achieve this the team will do what it does best; carry out an excellent preparation, choose a good race strategy and give priority to team work, forgetting about individual objectives, something that brought it a double world title in 2008.
In spite of what happened in Pau Yvan Muller is still the leader of the championship, and SEAT is still at the top of the constructors`classification. The bad result in France has brought one good thing though, SEAT will have less ballast in Valencia: -20 Kg. compared to the BMWs and 10 Kg. regarding the Chevrolets.
The circuit of Cheste is especially difficult for SEAT, but it also holds good memories for the manufacturer, because in 2005 Jordi Gené had the pleasure of winning in the SEAT León WTCC, the first ever victory for this car and in just its third appearannce in a race.
