John Boardman, Team Principal, commented “This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but after a couple of difficult and frustrating weekends trying to fix the car in racing conditions, I think the best course of action is to make sure the car is properly sorted and back to where we had it at the start of the season. We have the necessary tools to get the job done, and the best place to do this is back at base.”

The team will now concentrate on preparing the car for the Porto round of the WTCC before completing the series in the ‘”Fly-away” rounds.

The team headed to Slovakia for the 5^th and 6^th rounds of the Championship having carried out major works to repair the car following the coming together with a wall at Marrakech. The car also required a new engine which SEAT Sport duly delivered on the Thursday prior to the event for fitting. The team and SEAT Sport engineers worked hard to fit the engine in time for FP1 on Saturday.

Early Saturday morning and Tom prepared to go out to try out the new engine. From the outset the performance seemed sluggish and this was also evident in the data. Tom came in for a tyre change. On his next run though the engine failed and Tom was forced to park up and wait for the session to finish. On its return to the garage it was clear that an engine change would be required and the SEAT and STR mechanics made the change and had the car ready to go out again for FP2.

For FP2 Tom was looking for the correct set up that had seen him race at the Slovakiaring so successfully in 2012. Although he was in the diesel at that time, he finished in P9 starting from the back of the grid. With the second engine of the weekend fitted, Tom went out to try and set a time. This however was not to be, as the second engine also failed in a similar fashion, and the cause needed to be found fast.

SEAT Sport and the team worked tirelessly for the rest of the day, and long into the night, looking for the causes. It was decided to fit a third engine, and make further changes to the car, to eliminate all possible causes of the failures and then run Sunday as a test in order to make sure the issues would be sorted for the following week in Hungary.

Race day arrived and Tom went out cautiously in the Warm Up to try out the latest engine. He put in 5 laps, coming in regularly for data reads. This went to plan and for race 1 he started from the pit lane and ran an agreed six laps. Again the car finished this. Finally for the last race of the day, Tom started from the back of the grid and completed the race finishing in P18.

Commenting on the weekend’s experience Tom said “This is obviously very frustrating for all involved. Not knowing fully the cause of the failures makes it all the more difficult. Both SEAT Sport and our team have worked very hard over the weekend to fix it and for that I am very grateful. I am sure the changes that were made for Sunday will enable us to run properly in Hungary next weekend”

The team will continue to work with SEAT Sport to resolve fully the engine issues in time for the next round at the Hungaroring on 4^th and 5^th of May.

Pictures from an eventful Marrakech weekend.

Great pictures from the WTCC photographers from a wet opening round at Monza.

On a bitterly cold yet dry day, the newly liveried STR SEAT went out for Free Practice 1.  With some upgrades to the car over the off season, Tom would need to feel the effects of the changes in order to maximize the benefits. Consistency would be the order of the day.  The team worked on the set up in both the free practices and Tom was 14^th quickest in both sessions.

For qualifying, the team knew that only a couple of hundreds of a second would need to be made up to get into Q2. Tom went out and again found consistency in P14.  This he held until two minutes to go he dropped to 18^th. Tom went out for a final effort and put in his best time but could only manage a tantalizing 13^th,  with a time of 1:59:116, which was 0:00:070 outside Q2. In the end he was P14 but moved back to P13 with the withdrawal of the Lada team due to damage.

A very wet day greeted the team on Sunday. Race one started behind the safety car. Tom immediately moved up to P12 passing Engstler as the rain worsened. Lap 5 and a safety car came out after D’Aste spun off. Tom was waiting to move and did so as soon as the safety car was in, making up two more places.  He then got into a great battle with Rob Huff as they fought for ninth place. Tom out braked Huff into the chicane forcing the World Champion to go straight on but the position was not conceded. Huff went on to take James Nash and Tom then went to pass. Overtaking him on the outside Nash moved across and contact was made ending Tom’s race. The damage was a broken sub frame and drive shaft. The car was also marooned in the middle of the track, but after the race it was brought back and the team were forced to pull the car from parc ferme to try and fix for race 2.

The team worked hard and with 1 minute to spare Tom was out and waiting to join the race from the pit lane. He quickly caught up with the pack and made up a couple of places. By lap 5 he was up to 15^th  and looking to pass Freddie Barth. Pushing hard though he caught a curb and spun. He rejoined in 17^th and then chased after Monje. He could not catch and would eventually finish 16^th overall, P8 independent.

After the races Tom commented  “I am hugely disappointed with the result of this weekend, yet am encouraged by our performance both on and off the track. My race pace was good and I am also very pleased with the way that the team worked to get the car fixed for race two. We have to concentrate on those positives and I am looking forward to getting to Marrakech where hopefully I will also have luck with me as well”

The team now make the journey to the only WTCC stop in Africa for the second round on 6^th and 7^th of April.

Please click on the link above to download the STR ETCC Driver Presentation for 2013.

Or download the presentation here. STR-Driver-2013

Pictures form an exciting and eventful final round of the WTCC in Macau.

After a day off on the Saturday, Tom continued where he left off on the Sunday morning warm up session, posting the fastest speed of anyone through the speed trap at Mandarin. It was then on to the first race. Both championships, the Drivers and Yokohama Independents trophies, were still to be decided. All the protagonists were ahead so making up places would be a challenge. From the rolling start the cars headed down the fast section 1 of the circuit looking to get an advantage into Lisboa, the start of the tight mountain section. Tom got away well but contact between D’Aste and Bennani ahead blocked off the track at Lisboa holding up every car behind the top six.  As the first six continued off, Tom sustained damage to the rear of the car as he was held up trying to get through the incident.  Tom and the remainder of the field finally managed to get going and then the race was on to try and chase down the leading pack. On lap 5, Rob Huff the championship leader dramatically crashed out, and Tom was now up to P10. Tom tried to catch Alex Macdowell ahead but couldn’t make ground and went on to finish 10th overall, P5 Independent.

Race 2 and the tension was rising for the championship. The packed crowds were buzzing with excitement and again Tom would start P14. On the grid the SEAT engineers were working hard to fix an engine issue and the team were worried. Tom got away for the formation lap then lined up for the start. Lights out, but the car didn’t move. Quickly though Tom managed to get it going and started the race, but he was now down in P20 with it all to do. On lap 3 he managed to pass Couto and Monje, then on lap 4 he was ahead of Chilton and Bennani before the safety car came out for the incident between Macdowall and Muller. With Coronel’s retirement after picking up debris from the crash, Tom was now in P12. With the safety car back in, Tom passed James Nash in the Ford before Pepe Oriola and Norbert Michelisz crashed out. Tom made up another place before the safety car came out for this incident and he finished an action packed race in P9, P5 independent.

Commenting after the races Tom said “It’s hard to explain how amazing Macau is until you have driven around it and brought it home. To get two top 10 finishes, especially starting from P14 is a great result.  Since we have had the new engine from back in Brazil we have scored consistently well, I just wish we could have had it from the start of the season because I have only been competitive for the the last five events. That’s very frustrating for me!  But, i would like to say a big thanks to all who have supported me over the season. Team, Sponsors and fans, all fantastic, and I hope to be racing again next season with your ongoing support.”

Tom finished P10 in the Yokohama trophy scoring 43 of his 51 points in the final five fly away rounds. Incidentally this is the same as Norbert Michelisz who won this years Yokohama Trophy.

The team will now await the arrival of the cars back in the UK in January. We are currently working on securing drivers and sponsorship for the 2013 season, and hope to be back for a strong WTCC campaign in 2013.

A few pictures from Shanghai International Circuit

The team arrived at the Shanghai International Circuit on the back of a good weekend in Japan. Tom was quickly back on the pace running in the top ten for the practice session finishing in ninth overall. He continued this in the free practice sessions on the Saturday morning, ending the second free practice as seventh quickest. Looking to get a good qualification, Tom set out for more of the same. The session proved to be very tight with less than a second and a half separating the top twenty cars. With no team mate to work with, Tom could not find a drafting partner to help on the long straights, and though he improved his overall time he could not find a lap to get him into the top twelve. He would eventually qualify in twentieth with it all to do in the race. With his strong performance in previous sessions though, and his ability to get away from the start quickly, places could be made up in the races but work had to be done.

Sunday, and Tom was quick again in the warm up but would need to start well to make up places in the race. This he duly did. In race one he made up 11 places on lap one, passing cars on the opening drag to the first corner, then skillfully missing an incident at the chicane he made up a few more places. On lap 2 he then passed Pepe Oriola and by lap 3 was up to 6th behind Gabriele Tarquini. Tom then found himself in a gap where he couldn’t make up time on Tarquini but was not being pressured from behind. He went on to hold the position to claim 6th overall and 2nd independent.

Race two was equally good for Tom. Again he made a cracking start off the line and by lap 2 was in tenth spot chasing down Dudukalo in the Lukoil SEAT. With Pepe Oriola retiring, Tom moved up to 9th. He then passed Dudukalo to move up to 8th where he then came under pressure from a group of drivers including the Chevrolet of Colin Turkington, Monteiro in the Honda and Cerqui in his BMW. Tom held off this pack quite comfortably as positions behind him kept changing. Turkington’s Chevrolet was clearly very strong though and he managed to shake off the other three challengers and mounted a concerted effort to try and pass. On the final lap he made a fairly aggressive move and forced his way through meaning Tom would finish in 9th overall and Third independent. This would later change to 8th as Yvan Muller received a 30 second penalty demoting him to 12th.

After the racing Tom commented “To make the podium twice here is a great result for the team and myself. I wish the season was just starting now! The car is coming together brilliantly and I am really getting to grips with it; it’s such a shame I have only had the 1.6t engine for the last four meetings. I am really looking forward to the next rounds in Macau. I made the podium last time I raced there and will be pushing hard to repeat the performance.”

News came through hours after the racing that along with four other drivers, Tom would receive a 30 second time penalty for cutting the chicane in race one. This was done to avoid a multi-car incident but would mean a drop of 6 places overall, 4 in the independents.

The nature of the track would mean that overtaking would be difficult. This proved to be the case in both races. Race one, and Tom got off to a good start and on Lap 4 over took the Independent leader Norbert Michelisz to move into 14th. He was then in a battle with Japanese driver Yoshimoto who managed to pass him on lap 5. Tom was then pushing hard to regain the position whilst coming under immense pressure from Michelisz. For the next 6 laps that group provided all the action for the crowd and eventually Tom forced a mistake from Yoshimoto which enabled him and Michelisz to pass. Tom then set off to track down Darryl O’Young now racing in the Bamboo Chevrolet. Michelisz was also keeping the pressure up as his rear wheel drive BMW got stronger as the SEAT’s tyres began to lose performance.

Rene was lapping well and making up a few places and on lap 21 showed his rally cross skills with a great save on Turn 2. Tom also showed his skills when Michelisz out braked himself and contact was made. Tom recovered the slide to hold on to the position providing even more great entertainment. The pressure continued but Tom held on very well to finish 12th overall and 6th in the Independents. Rene finished in 17th which is 10th Independent.

Race two followed a similar pattern with overtaking proving difficult. Tom again got off to a great start and by the end of lap 1 was up to 12th position. On lap 4 he was right behind the new Honda of Tiago Monteiro, pulling a great move to try and pass, but ultimately he couldn’t make it stick. The rest of the race was spent trying to track down the Honda whilst holding off the Chevrolet of Darryl O’Young. Tom could not make up more ground and held his position to again finish 12th, 7th Independent. Rene again drove well to finish 20th which was 12th Independent.

Commenting on the races Tom said “I have really enjoyed racing here at Suzuka. Ultimately the success of the weekend was always going to be based on qualifying, and not quite being able to get through to the top 12 meant making up ground was going to be tough. To finish both races ahead of where I started was a good result and in tight racing its great to be able to achieve that. I am now looking forward to racing at Shanghai in a couple of weeks.”

The team will now prepare for another new circuit at the Shanghai International Circuit on the weekend of 4th November.

Pictures from the Japanese Round of the WTCC from Suzuka.

Münnich has raced successfully in GT3 and the FIA European Rallycross Championships with his ALL-INKL racing team. He is now looking for success in the FIA WTCC and Japan will be his debut driving world touring cars.

Gary Robertshaw, Technical Director at STR commented “We are looking forward to working with René and providing him a really competitive car. We have just come off a very promising weekend in Sonoma and are looking to take this to Suzuka. It’s going to be a big challenge for René not having driven a contemporary WTCC car and also having to learn a new circuit. We are confident that the package and support we will provide to René will enable us to achieve our goals for the weekend.”

René Münnich added “It is a great pleasure to work with Special Tuning Racing in the WTCC. It is a good opportunity for me to get a hands on evaluation of the WTCC. As a driver this is a new challenge for me. I have never raced at Suzuka before. Luckily we are using the short circuit so that will give me the chance to learn the track quickly and get used to the car. My aim is to see a continual improvement from the first practice session to the last lap of the final race; that would be a good result.

The Competition in the WTCC is of the highest level, so it will take some time to get used to it. I have experience with different cars such as the Lamborghini GT1, the Mercedes SLS GT3, and the old Ford Focus WTCC.

The European Rally Cross Championship in which I have been competing this year has come to an end for this season, so I want to use this time now to investigate the possibility for our team for the following WTCC season.”