New kids on the WTCC block

The 2010 FIA World Touring Car Championship has launched some new faces in the stardom of international tin-top racing.

A bunch of young drivers – some of them having already achieved impressive results in the national series – have attracted attention with remarkable performances, showing the speed and skill to compete against the established top-guns of the category.

Two of them, Colin Turkington (28 years old from Northern Ireland) and Norbert Michelisz (26 from Hungary) even claimed their maiden WTCC victories during the season.

Michelisz, the winner of the 2009 SEAT Eurocup, entered for the full season at the wheel of a SEAT León TDI run by the Zengö Dension Team. His rise was fast and consistent, leading him to an unexpected 9th position in the Drivers’ championship and to a well deserved win in Macau’s Race 2.

Even more impressive was Colin Turkington’s path. The 2009 British Touring Car champion joined only on five events – Portimão, Brands Hatch, Brno, Okayama and Macau – in the West Surrey Racing BMW 320si. Right from the beginning he found his place among the best and claimed three podium results out of his first six races: third and second in Brands Hatch, second in Brno.

He shone again in the soaked Japanese event, coming home second in Race 2 behind fellow BMW driver Augusto Farfus; a few days later Farfus was excluded by the International Court of Appeal and Turkington inherited a victory that he clearly had the potential to claim on the track. He also managed to make the top-ten in the Drivers’ Championship though taking part in only ten races out of 22.