WTCC NURBURGRING: SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING DOMINATES GREEN HELL

Special meeting in the world Championship FIA WTCC agenda, the race on the impressive Nürburgring circuit is a real test for drivers and their car. Perfect conditions for the three Sébastien Loeb Racing licensees and their Citroën C-Elysée, who have perfectly anticipated the many traps spread over the 25,378 km of the German track. Winner in Monza a fortnight ago, Mehdi Bennani took advantage of the Alsacian team’s know-how to find the right settings on the car. An outstanding work of the French team, allowing it to reach the second step of the opening race podium before ranking sixth in the main race. Mehdi took the opportunity to score big points in the provisional WTCC Trophy classification. Already at ease last year on this legendary track, Tom Chilton has, once again, demonstrated all his racing skills and came back twice in the Top 5 after finding the right settings with his team engineers. These results allow the English driver to remain one of the strong men of the WTCC Trophy. Increasingly at ease behind the wheel of a car he is still discovering, John Filippi continues to confirm his top speed by scoring valuable points in the two scheduled races. Without a doubt, ranking twice its mounts in the Top 10 this weekend, the Sébastien Loeb Racing has showed its striking force in a very competitive world Championship.

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“Living up to its reputation, the Nürburgring has not been easy, said Tom Chilton. As far as I’m concerned, I had a slightly difficult weekend. For sure, the podium was at close range in the opening race. Unfortunately, during a ride off the track, a driver did not respect the yellow flag, and I didn’t manage to narrow the gap to go and get a third place. However, the team has worked hard to allow our car to be very powerful, especially in corner speed in a curve where we clearly were the fastest. We’ll have to fight during the next races for the WTCC Trophy title.”

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“We have just had a very nice weekend, says Mehdi Bennani. We scored big points for driver and team rankings. Walking on the podium on a Nürburgring race is always a glorious result. The Sébastien Loeb Racing and its technical staff were able to make us feel confident with fine settings for this unique track. From then on, we focused on our driving and the results just came. This is our third podium this year and we regularly fight for the first places. Now, we all want to keep working on the same pace.”

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“It’s a very impressive circuit, a real challenge for the driver and his car, says John Filippi. You realize the importance of working with video. Here, more than elsewhere, you need to be very reactive in the choice of settings and with the Sébastien Loeb Racing, we were able to choose a good tyre strategy. Then, I managed to narrow the gap with my teammates, just good hopes for the race. I took advantage of my ease in the leading group to rank tenth twice. I’ve really reached a significant point this weekend and I now know the points to improve. I’m already looking forward to going to Portugal.”

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“Nordschleife is undoubtedly one of the most fearful circuits in the world, says Dominique Heintz, co-founder of the team with Sébastien Loeb. You have to tackle this race with great humility, the season is still long and you can lose a lot here. Mehdi Bennani, Tom Chilton and John Filippi were perfectly able to tackle this race to go and get valuable points with great results. This is just fine for the next step in Portugal next month.”