EUROPEAN TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Magny Cours 2002
FIA European Touring Car Championship
21/04/2002
 
18/04/2002
Preview
 
The European Touring Car Championship is back this year with new cars and a new set of regulations. This years Super 2000 regulations are designed to help reduce the costs of competing in Europe’s premier tin top league similar to the way the current BTCC regulations work. The emphasis is placed essentially on the upgrade of the Super Production cars thus giving the existing teams the chance to buy a kit to bring their cars up to the new premier league without the costs of a total rebuild and design.

In practise of course the major manufacturers will have started from scratch in their thinking and competition will be as fierce as ever. The championship consists of 11 teams and 5 makes of car with teams entering from all over Europe. The cars entered for 2002 are BMW, Alfa Romeo, Nissan, Honda and Volvo, the strongest challenge for the title will come from either BMW or Alfa although the Volvo’s built by Prodrive have been on the pace during testing.

The Championship favourite is likely to be the current champion, Fabrizio Giovanardi in his factory Alfa 156 Gta. The Italian has taken the previous five championships he has entered, so why should this year be any different though expect a strong challenge from his team mates Nicola Larini and Romana Bernardoni.

BMW’s challenge will be as strong as ever with the factory Schnitzer team and Carly Motors locking horns for the pride of being the lead rear wheel drive team. Jorg Muller in the lead Schnitzer car is confident of competing with the Alfas and cannot be placed far behind Giovanardi in the odds for the title.

The Volvo entry, built by Prodrive, is bound to be in the hunt for the top places as the English based team rarely leave anything to chance. The Volvo S60 was thought to be a bit on the large side giving the team a few headaches concerning weight but if they have that sorted Rickard Rydell could well be handing out the paracetamol to a few of the other teams.

Outside of these teams the form of the Nissans and Hondas is a little harder to predict. The Nissan Primera has always coped well in the Super Production and Touring Car circles but the lack of factory support could prove to be the undoing of RJN Motorsport’s title ambitions. The Nissan proved last year that it could compete with the BMW’s to a degree but this year BMW has upped their program and I feel the Primera’s will struggle to keep up. As for the Honda Civic Type-R, the CiBiEmme Team will kick off their season in the Super Production car so expect them to be at the back of the grid. The Honda is potentially a very quick car with a good chassis and a strong engine but as Arena have found out in the BTCC that does not guarantee success.

The new Super 2000 series is based on the following structure;

1140kg for front wheel drive, 1170kg for rear wheel drive

2.0 litre engine 270bhp

8500 rpm limit

5 speed gearbox using original casing- Non sequential

Steel brakes-

80mm ride height

Control tyres & fuel

10 Rounds comprising of 2 50km races per event



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