Asian Motor Sports

CLAIMANTS TO THE WORLD TITLE COMPARED

No less than nine drivers will be fighting to become World Champion during the 2006 FIA WTCC final race meeting, next week in Macau. The comparative table below summarizes their respective situations:

driver Car age points gap ballast best result in Macau
A. Farfus Alfa Romeo 23 60 80 kg 1st FIA WTCC 2005
A. Priaulx BMW 32 59 - 1 45 kg 2nd FIA WTCC 2005 2nd Guia Race 2003/04
J. Müller BMW 37 59 - 1 75 kg 1st Guia Race 2004 1st F3 Grand Prix 1993
G. Tarquini SEAT 44 57 - 3 45 kg 10th F3 GP 1988
R. Rydell SEAT 39 54 - 6 35 kg 1st F3 Grand Prix 1992 3rd Guia Race 2004
D. Müller BMW 31 53 - 7 35 kg 10th FIA WTCC 2005
J. Thompson SEAT 32 49 - 11 20 kg 7th FIA WTCC 2005
Y. Muller SEAT 37 48 - 12 20 kg DNF F3 GP 1991
P. Terting SEAT 22 48 - 12 30 kg 6th FIA WTCC 2005

MACAU: A CIRCUIT THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

It is interesting to see which kind of relationship each driver has with the infamous 6.1km Guia street circuit. In 52 years of racing at Macau, Jörg Müller was only the second man capable to win both, the Grand Prix and the Guia Race, after John McDonald who added the Motorcycle GP on top of it!

Last year Augusto Farfus managed to win the Guia Race on his first visit to Macau, while Andy Priaulx and Rickard Rydell proved on different occasions that they like the track.

Among the WTCC magnificent nine, those who have struggled most at Macau so far are Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini. The Frenchman raced there only in the 1991 F3 Grand Prix and retired, while the Italian finished 10th in the first leg of the 1988 F3 Grand Prix and recently made two unsuccessful attempts in the Guia Race: he retired in 2002 while fighting for the podium, and did not even take the start last year after a massive crash in qualifying.

WHAT IF…

• either Augusto Farfus or Peter Terting wins the title - he would be the youngest FIA World Champion ever: on race day Farfus will be 23-years, 2-months and 16-days old, Terting 22-years and 10-months; the current record is held by Fernando Alonso who claimed the 2005 Formula One crown being 24-years, 1-month and 27-days old.

• Augusto Farfus wins the title - he would be the first Brazilian World Champion in motor sport after Ayrton Senna in 1991, he would also give Alfa Romeo their first World title since the 1977 World Sportscar Championship.