Duncan Huisman’s WTCC 2010 preview

The FIA World Touring Car Championship 2010 premiere is just one week away. TouringCarTimes Expert – Duncan Huisman – gives us his views on what we are to expect of the season.
“I think this is going to be a very interesting season, especially because of the few manufacturers team and the strong independents,” said Huisman.

The season kicks off at Curitiba in Brazil, a special track which provides for good racing.

“Curitiba is always special due to the slipstreaming on the long straights and especially the first corner. There are some good overtaking possibilities,” said Huisman.

There has been a lot of changes ahead of the 2010 season: SEAT has left the championship and been “replaced” by a semi-official team, SR-Sport. Previous champion Yvan Muller has moved to Chevrolet, BMW have reduced their effort from five cars to two, Lada has withdrawn and much more.

The entry list for the WTCC 2010 was released not long ago, featuring 20 drivers. Duncan Huisman comments on the drivers he thinks is going to be in for the fight this year:

Gabriele Tarquini – SEAT Léon TDi – SR-Sport

“The big question for Tarquini is if the change from a factory backed works effort to a reduced semi-works team is going to be a disadvantage for him? I think so. He has done a lot of testing over the past seasons. This year he is going to have a lot less testing. But Tarquini is very clever and he is the best driver on collecting points in each race.”

Tom Coronel – SEAT Léon TDi – SR-Sport

“The 2009 independents champion Coronel is, except for being a very good friend, very fast and has learned to maximize his efforts with limited testing and budget in the past. This is going to work in his advantage this year and he is absolutely my favorite at SR-Sport. This is the year when he can prove how good he should have been in a works SEAT.”

Tiago Monteiro – SEAT Léon TDi – SR-Sport

“I don’t know Monteiro that well, but I expected more from him over the past seasons as he is an ex Formula One driver. He is going to have a hard time beating his team mates Tarquini and Coronel.”

Jordi Gené – SEAT Léon TDi – SR-Sport

“Gené has not been a real front runner in the past. He has been quick sometimes, but never consistent. In my opinion he has had a great advantage of being the number one test driver for SEAT Sport and gotten more experience of new parts ahead of the others.”

Yvan Muller – Chevrolet Cruze – RML

“The 2008 WTCC champion should have won the championship last year as well but lost it at Oschersleben due to an accident. Muller is a very fast driver and has got the best car control of the field. He is going to give his team mates a hard time this season!”

Rob Huff – Chevrolet Cruze – RML

“After almost being left in the cold by the end of 2007, he was the biggest revelation in 2008 and 2009 after beating team mates Menu and Larini. He needs a bit more luck on the technical side with the reliability of the Cruze. But if somebody deserves to win the WTCC, it is definitely Huff!”

Alain Menu – Chevrolet Cruze – RML

“Menu is together with Tarquini one of the oldest drivers in WTCC, but he is very experienced when it comes to Touring Cars. He is going to give his team mates a hard time at Brands Hatch and Macau, but that is not enough to beat them in the championship. The fact that he is involved in a lot of accidents is not going to help him.”

Augusto Farfus Jr. – BMW 320si – RBM

“Farfus is one of the youngest works drivers but has been in Touring Car Racing since 2004 and always been in the top. He is for sure one of the fastest, but the problem with him is that it is always “all or nothing”.
With six victories, like he had last year, you normally cannot lose a championship. His new team mate Priaulx won the championship in 2005 with just one win. He must learn to collect points in every race. If Farfus can do this and listen to team boss Bart Mampaey, he might be the one you should put your money on this year!”

Andy Priaulx – BMW 320si – RBM

“Three times WTCC champion and one time ETCC champion. Do I need to say more? If someone knows how to win the championship, it is Priaulx. Farfus can learn a lot from him, not in raw speed, but on how to win the championship.”

While the fight for the WTCC 2010 title is going to be mainly be between the works team, we might have a couple of independents that could surprise. Huisman guides us through the names:

Michel Nykjær – SEAT Léon TDi – SUNRED

“His disadvantage might be that he has got no experience of the circuits in the calendar. But he has shown that he is quick by winning the DTC and the ETC Cup. He is in a good team, a team that won the independents trophy last year and the team have a lot of experience of the WTCC. Another plus is that they have got SR-Sport next door where the experienced guys can learn him a lot.”

Sérgio Hernández – BMW 320si – Proteam

“As an ex-BMW works driver, he knows what it is all about. He won the independents trophy in 2008, so if the team has got the budget and can keep the pace throughout the season, he can score podiums and end up in the top eight overall.”

Stefano D’Aste – BMW 320si – Proteam

“He is probably the fastest model in the world but is going to have a hard time this year with his team mate Hernández. But at the same time, that might help him reach a higher level and find more consistency. I would say that his strongest advantage this year is that he has got a fast team mate!”

Follow the WTCC 2010 season on TouringCarTimes.com!