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[BTCC] Mondello Park BTCC Event Announced |
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Thursday, 23 March 2006 |
Mondello Park BTCC Event Announced
| Mondello Park's International calendar kicks off in less than five weeks time with the announcement that the circuit will host the second event on the 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship schedule. The BTCC and support package heads to the Kildare track for its only overseas event of the season on April 22nd & 23rd.
The annual BTCC races at Mondello will as usual bring the best of British Motorsport to Ireland with the Touring Cars joined on the programme by the mouth watering machinery of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and some of the worlds best young drivers in the UK Formula BMW championship. The programme will also include the best of Irish Motorsport, with the Dunlop Supercars and Dunlop Abarth Cup running together and single seater action from Formula Sheane.
The BTCC has undergone a resurgence over the winter which has resulted in a host of new car and driver combinations hitting the track. Round one takes place at Brands Hatch on April 8th & 9th with a field of at least seventeen cars expected to make the grid.
New to the series will be Italian former WTCC driver Fabrizio Giovanardi who will drive for Vauxhall alongside Tom Chilton and Irelands Gavin Smith. West Surrey Racing will run in the colours of RAC and this new backing has allowed them to run two cars with Colin Turkington returning to his former team to drive alongside Rob Collard. 2005 champion Matt Neal will have a new team mate and this position looks likely to be filled by one-make saloon racing graduate Gordon Sheddon. Other new faces include Eurotech Racing who switch from GT's to run a Honda Integra for Mike Jordan and Martyn Bell who will run his WTCC BMW.
Irish eyes will not only be on Smith and Turkington in the Touring Car races but also on Damien Faulkner in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, where the reigning champion will have a lot more competition to deal with than in 2005. The switch to the new 997 model of the Porsche GT3 has boosted interest in the series and entries are expected to top the twenty mark for the first time in the short history of the series.
Further information on the event including the timetable will be released over the coming weeks.
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