BMW national teams and WTCC travel to Marrakech for first time

BMW national teams and WTCC travel to Marrakech for first time. 

Munich, 27th April 2009.

After a break of over four weeks, the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) returns to action with one of the season’s true highlights: the series will make its debut in Marrakech (MA) this weekend, marking the first time in its history that the WTCC has staged two races on the African continent. However, the “Circuit de Marrakech” is not the only one celebrating its debut. The BMW 320si WTCC has had a facelift prior to races five and six of the season. BMW 3 Series production cars have sported the new design modifications since last year, and it is now time to introduce the car’s even more elegant, sporting profile to the racetrack.

Marrakech also sees the new “compensation weight” come into play for the first time. This is aimed at balancing out the difference in performance between individual models of car. Based on the lap times achieved in Curitiba (BR) and Puebla (MX), the BMW 320si WTCC with the five-speed H-pattern gearbox and the SEAT León TDI have turned out to be the reference models. This means that Andy Priaulx (GB) from BMW Team UK, the two BMW Team Germany drivers, Augusto Farfus (BR) and Jörg Müller (DE), and Sergio Hernández (ES) from BMW Team Italy-Spain must each carry an extra 40 kilograms of ballast. In contrast, Hernández’ team-mate Alessandro Zanardi (IT), who is competing with a six-speed sequential gearbox, will start with 20 kilos less than in Brazil and Mexico.

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
“Marrakech will be my second street race within a week. Taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday was a great experience, although the last mile felt like the longest of my life. Street circuits are also very challenging in WTCC, but the fact that this one is new and unknown just goes to make it all the more complicated.”

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
“I’m intrigued by Marrakech. It is nice, even after so many years in motorsport, to race at new circuits. The compensation weight ought to cause changes to positions.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
“I'm always keen on travelling to new countries and meeting interesting people. Normally I do quite well on street circuits. However, with all its long straights the Marrakech circuit doesn’t have much in common with typical street tracks like Pau. This makes it very interesting.”

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“On Marrakech’s long straights the reduced weight of my car due to the compensation weight system should be an advantage. I hope we will be able to build on the performance we showed in Puebla. Morocco will be an interesting adventure.”

Sergio Hernández (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“Finally we go racing again. It's great to return to the cockpit at such an interesting place like Marrakech. After our promising performance in Puebla I'm fired up to score some more points in Morocco.”