The Brands Hatch circuit, one of Europe’s most historical motorsports venues, is hosting the eighth World Touring Car Championship event on 19 July before taking time off for the usual summer break. SEAT Sport is getting ready for a tough competition given the track’s layout difficulties, which has nothing to do with the races run on Oporto’s urban circuit.
Brands Hatch shares a few similarities with Brno. It also has sharp elevation changes and few straightaways, and its famous ‘Paddock Hill Bend’ is one of the most challenging of the entire championship. With these features, the ballast weight plays an important role, especially on the wear of the tyres of front-wheel drive cars like the SEAT León TDI. This will make SEAT Sport engineers work hard to find the balance to compensate the 40 kg of supplementary weight carried at this race.
Despite this drawback, the team has always managed to score points, even in less favourable former conditions, and this has put them in the championship lead since the beginning in both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. SEAT Sport has the same objective for Brands Hatch, and the fantastic results in Oporto will give them the chance to go into the last race before the summer break with the hopes of finishing in the same position. After seven meetings, SEAT has a 17 point advantage over BMW and 70 over Chevrolet. In the drivers’ standings, Yvan Muller has a 14 point spread over Gabriele Tarquini and 15 over Augusto Farfus.
SEAT managed a spectacular result on this track in 2006 by snagging all three podium positions. It was a historic feat and is still the brand’s best performance on this circuit. In face of the current events, this will be a hard act to follow, but it is also a motivation for all the SEAT Sport team members.
Schedule (add 1 hour for CET time)
Saturday, 18 July
9 – 9:30 a.m.: Free training sessions
11:15 – 11:45 a.m.: Free training sessions
3 – 3:35 p.m.: Qualifying session
Sunday, 19 July
10 – 10:15 a.m.: Warm-up
11:50 a.m.: First race. 11 laps, rolling start
4:05 p.m.: Second race. 11 laps, standing start
Minimum weights and ballast of participating cars
SEAT León TDI: 1,170 kg + 40 kg ballast = 1,210 kg?SEAT petrol: 1,170 kg – 20 kg ballast = 1,150 kg?BMW: 1,155 kg + 40 kg ballast = 1,195 kg
Chevrolet Cruze: 1,170 kg + 10 kg = 1,180 kg
BMW (Privates): 1,180 kg?Lada 110: 1,170 kg – 20 kg ballast = 1,150 kg
(Due to a special authorisation by the FIA, the BMWs are competing with 15 kg less than the SEAT León TDI).
- SEAT Sport
