MOTORSPORT NEWS ARCHIVE
3 car Alfa team to contest World Championship
Alfa Romeo will contest the 2006 FIA World Touring Car
Championship with a three car team run by Nord Technology with Brazilian
Augusto Farfus as the lead driver. The 22-year old Farfus is contesting
his third consecutive season with the team and in FIA Touring Cars. Last
year Farfus was classified fourth in the FIA WTCC, also scoring his first
victory in Macau's Race 1.
The three Alfa Romeo 156 cars will be run by Nord Technology,
directed by Mauro and Monica Sipsz and representing the Italian car maker
in the Manufacturers' Championship. Farfus' team-mates are Gianni Morbidelli
and Salvatore Tavano, both from Italy. Morbidelli (36) boasts an impressive
racing CV, including Formula One (he started 67 Grand Prix) and Touring
Car successful campaigns as a works driver for BMW, Alfa Romeo (in the
1993 Italian Championship) and Volvo. Tavano (26) was a regular competitor
in the FIA Touring Car Championship since 2001 and the winner of the 2004
Italian Super Production title (in an Alfa Romeo 147); last year he raced
in both, the World and the Italian Championships with an Alfa Romeo 156
prepared by Antonelli Sport.
Alfa Romeo will launch its bid for the WTCC titles in Italy
on 1-2 April when the opening round of the 2006 season takes place at
Monza. In addition to the European rounds and the ex-Europe events in
Spain and China, the 2006 WTCC series has added a round in Latin America,
giving Farfus the chance to drive in front of a home crowd at Curitiba
in Brazil on 1-2 July.
Alfa Romeo will also be at the heart of the Czech Republic's
bid to have its first world champion with Jiøí Janák,
the winner of the 2005 Czech Skoda Octavia Cup, contesting the 2006 FIA
WTCC at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA.
"This is certainly going to be my greatest racing
experience so far," said Jiøí Janák. "I
am looking forward to it very much. We will be facing fierce competition
and I wonder how we will manage to win recognition. Our goal is the best
possible result, but I know very well that it will be tough."
WTCC Calendar
ROUNDS DATE COUNTRY VENUE
01 & 02 1/2 April ITALY Monza
03 & 04 29/30 April FRANCE Magny-Cours
05 & 06 20/21 May GREAT BRITAIN Brands Hatch
07 & 08 3/4 June GERMANY Oschersleben
09 & 10 1/2 July BRAZIL Curitiba
11 & 12 29/30 July MEXICO Puebla
13 & 14 2/3 September CZECH REPUBLIC Brno
15 & 16 23/24 September TURKEY Istanbul
17 & 18 7/8 October SPAIN Valencia
19 & 20 18/19 November CHINA Macau
©ItalianCar 2006
