Route to Suzuka, Japan

The 19th and 20th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place at Suzuka, Japan on the next weekend. This is the sixth consecutive visit of the World Championship to the Country of the Rising Sun and the third to the Suzuka International Circuit.

Just like in the two previous years, the WTCC will run on Suzuka’s East Circuit that is 2.2-km long, but very fast. Therefore the race distance will amount to 26 laps.

In 2012 Alain Menu (Chevrolet) won the first race, leading home his team-mates Yvan Muller and Rob Huff.

In the second race, Stefano D’Aste (BMW) took advantage from pole position on the reverse grid and led for the whole distance beating Pepe Oriola and Gabriele Tarquini. Just like Tom Coronel (also in a BMW) had done in 2011.

With the Manufacturers’ title awarded to Honda after the latest event at Sonoma, it is quite likely that Yvan Muller will grab the Drivers’ Championship. The French ace is currently leading the
standings with a margin of 144 points ahead of Gabriele Tarquini, while 165 are still at stake.