Chevrolet Drivers Yvan Muller, Rob Huff and Alain Menu claimed their third Chevrolet 1,2,3 of the season at a warm and sunny Hungaroring.

Race 1 started with an all Chevy front row with Yvan Muller on Pole, Rob Huff second and Alain Menu third, making up for last weeks disappointing qualifying in Slovakia. There was little to trouble the Chevy’s although in the first corner Seat Driver Gabriele Tarquini tried an ambitious overtake on Huff, which didn’t pay of and the italian ended up off the track, while the British star kept it together. From there it was formation flying for the three Chevrolet’s, and the boys rounded it off by securing another wonderful 1,2,3 lock out of the podium.

Winner Muller Said after Race 1 “It was a good weekend all in all. Race 1 was quite straightforward. Once we got past the first corner, half the job was done. After that, I just focused on driving in the cleanest way possible and made sure not to make any mistakes. I knew that given the pace I had throughout the weekend, it would have been difficult for my teammates to pass me. Everything went well and it was a clean win”.

Rob Huff Said After race 1 said ““I’m pleased with the results as I reduced the points gap in the championship despite dropping a position. Race 1 was another great team success for Chevrolet and RML. At the first corner there was contact with Tarquini. He was trying an impossible overtake from the outside line and he hit me. Luckily, I stayed on the track but the handling of my car was somewhat compromised. In the circumstances, I’m happy with second

Alain Menu after race 1 ““I’m pleased with the results as I reduced the points gap in the championship despite dropping a position. Race 1 was another great team success for Chevrolet and RML. At the first corner there was contact with Tarquini. He was trying an impossible overtake from the outside line and he hit me. Luckily, I stayed on the track but the handling of my car was somewhat compromised. In the circumstances, I’m happy with second”

Race 2 is always a challenge with the reverse grid, with the Chevrolet’s starting 8th,9th and 10th respectively. Alain Menu managed to make steady progress up the field, first he dispatched Tiago Monteiro’s  SR Seat Leon with a wonderful last ditch dive up the inside on lap four. Then after catching up with Mehdi Bennani in his BMW and Pepe Oriola in his Seat Leon his progress was halted some what. But on lap nine Bannani locked up while trying to overtake Oriola, which allowed Menu in his Chevy to sail through into second place. Although by this time there was nothing he could do to catch local hero Norbert Michelisz in his BMW who was way out in front. And to be honest to hear the crowd go wild for the Hungarian taking the win at his home race was really touching and says alot about WTCC.

Huff and Muller struggled to make the same progress as Menu, having a good battle with the formidable Italian Gabriele Tarquini in his Seat Leon. It was always going to be tough for the Chevy guys to make their way past the italian, and although they tried they couldn’t find a way past. Unfortunately for Muller on the last lap the Frenchman dropped back to tenth after running wide trying to fend of Stefano D’Aste in his BMW, Huff managed to secure 7th after a hard fought Race with Tarquini, in the end he did’nt have the tyres to make the pass. But more importantly he still gained valuable points over his french team mate in the championship.

Third Place Menu said ““Race 2 was much more exciting, I think I had a great race, attacking without taking excessive risks. It wasn’t easy with Monteiro first and then Bennani and Oriola. Finishing second from P8 on the grid is not bad at all. Michelisz was too far away in the closing lap, and to be honest it’s nice to see him having his day of glory at his home race.”

Huff after race 2 “Obviously, I’m not massively pleased with 7^th in the second race, but we couldn’t do any better. I got stuck behind Tarquini and had Yvan behind me, so I had to be very cautious. Unfortunately, this is a circuit where overtaking is not easy, as turns are a succession of left and right handers and this makes it very difficult to pass if the car in front of you has a similar pace.

Championship leader Yvan said “Race 2 was more difficult as Rob and I got stuck behind the SEATs. In the closing laps, I had to defend my position from the BMWs of D’Aste and Engstler. I ran wide in the last lap and it cost me two positions”.

Ahead of the 6^th round of the season at the Salzburgring in Austria on 20 May, Chevrolet has a 135 point lead in the Manufacturers’ standings, while Muller, Menu and Huff are within 30 points of each other on top of the Drivers’ standings.

Drivers’ Championship

• 1. Yvan MULLER 180 pt.
• 2. Alain MENU 157 pt.
• 3. Rob HUFF 150 pt.
• 4. Gabriele TARQUINI 97 pt.
• 5. Tom CORONEL 97 pt.
• 6. Norbert MICHELISZ 78 pt.
• 7. Pepe ORIOLA 69 pt.
• 8. Stefano D’ASTE 59 pt.
• 9. Franz ENGSTLER 36 pt.
• 10. Mehdi BENNANI 35 pt

Manufacturers’ Championship

• 1. Chevrolet 415 pt.
• 2. BMW Customer Racing Teams 278 pt.
• 3. SEAT Customer Technology 262 pt

Not a good start to Race 1 for Chevrolet’s Rob Huff when he became involved in a incident with Seat driver Tiago Monteiro and the Ford of James Nash, dropping Huff down the order and eventually forced him into the pits to have repairs carried out on his suspension and finish 17th.

It was widely tipped that BMW would be tough to beat round this technical tyre shredding track, and so it was the BMW of Norbert Michelisz that started the race from pole. Although it didn’t work out this way, with the Seat’s of Gabriele Tarquini and Aleksei Dudukalo both able to pass the BMW of Michelisz , although controversially this was due to a cheeky tap from Tarquini leaving the BMW trailing behind the two Seat’s and open to attack from Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller. Yvan pushed hard to pass Michelisz’s BMW and on lap 13 he managed to pass the BMW driver although this was judged to be an illegal move as Muller tapped the BMW driver into a spin. Later Muller was punished for this move by being awarded a drive through penalty which saw him eventually recover to 11th.  After the event had finished however he was later promoted to 10th as a result of a penalty for BMW driver Tom Coronel.

Alain Menu in the other Chevrolet Cruze had a more successful first race eventually finishing Third on the podium after the Seat of Pepe Oriola developed a puncture and dropped back. This meant Alain Menu was the only Chevrolet to score points in the first race.

The other Privately Run Bamboo Racing Chevrolet Cruzes of Alex Macdowall and Pasquale di Sabatino finished 13th and 14th respectively, with Pasquale learning the touring car trade every race and improving. Alex was unlucky but is pushing hard to make an impact on the world stage, after starring in the British Touring car Championship for Chevrolet and RML.

Race 2

Race two saw Alain Menu start second on the reverse grid, so a more promising race for Chevrolet looked on the cards and we got the reward. Huff in his Chevrolet managed to get the jump on Menu from fourth place and slot in behind pole sitter Stefano D’Aste. D’aste ran wide on turn 2, allowing all three Chevrolet’s to pass him with Rob huff leading the pack. Alain Menu was passed for third by Seat’s Gabriele Tarquini on lap 3, but on the following lap had to retire with a front left puncture.

Huffy initially came under tremendous pressure from his team mate Muller for the lead, then Yvan himself came under pressure from the Seat of  Gabriele Tarquini, this gave Huff some breathing space at the front. Finger nail biting moment came on the final lap when Tarquini hit Muller’s Chevy sending into a 90 degree slide, the Frenchman managed to pull it back and the defending champion held of the Seat to claim second place.

Rob Huff  Said “I think we had some unluckiness in the first part of the season and we had more bad luck in the first race today when I got fired off, but that’s racing. The team did the most amazing job to get the car back and straight in time for Race 2, since both the rear wheels were pointing in opposite directions, and I think we got out of the pit lane with 30 seconds to spare. In the second race, I had the best start I think I’ve ever had and I got past D’Aste in Turn 2 since I could see he was a bit loose there. After that, it was a case of watching my mirrors into every corner since I didn’t know where Yvan would be strong around the circuit. The last two laps were very hard work, but our Italian friend here helped me out by slowing Yvan down on the last lap!”

The private Bamboo engineering Chevrolet’s of Alex Macdowall and Pasquale di Sabatino had mixed fortunes in the race two. Alex had to retire with electrical gremlins. But a positive for Pasquale di Sabatino he classified 12th meaning he kept it clean and yet more miles under his belt in a touring car.

Championship Standings  After Rounds 7,8  Slovakia

• 1. Yvan MULLER 149 pt.
• 2. Rob HUFF 122 pt.
• 3. Alain MENU 121 pt.
• 4. Tom CORONEL 89 pt.
• 5. Gabriele TARQUINI 87 pt.
• 6. Stefano D’ASTE 55 pt.
• 7. Pepe ORIOLA 53 pt.
• 8. Norbert MICHELISZ 47 pt.
• 9. Franz ENGSTLER 34 pt.
• 10. Aleksei DUDUKALO 22 pt.

Manufacturer Standings after Rounds 7,8 Slovakia

• 1. Chevrolet 337 pt.
• 2. SEAT Customer Technology 219 pt.
• 3. BMW Customer Racing Teams 208 pt.

The New Plant features Co2 emissions of just 117g/km, and should give returns of up to 72.4MPG on the combined cycle at the pumps. Couple this to Chevrolet’s excellent pricing and keen specification list on the Cruze, make this a tempting proposition to any family buyer. And lets not forget the Cruze has race pedigree, having won the World Touring Car championship for two years in a row now.

The new engine may have plenty of green credentials, but that doesn’t mean it lacks punch, the 1.7 VCDi produces 130PS and 300Nm of torque, this accelerates the car from 0-60mph in 9.4 seconds and onto a top speed of 124MPH.

Chevrolet UK Managing Director Mark Terry said: “The new 1.7 VCDi gives Chevrolet a real opportunity to compete in the core area of the five-door hatchback market, where tax implications, fuel economy and CO2 emissions are critical. Already a hit with private buyers, this new engine gives Cruze a much broader appeal to fleets and really helps underline our commitment to growth in this key business area. With the five-door now established in the market and a Station Wagon imminent, the Cruze range keeps getting better and better, and is just what our customers and dealers are requesting.”

Three trim levels will be available, with equipment identical to comparable models in the Cruze line-up. The entry-level LS, which comes with such features as air conditioning, ESC, remote central locking, follow-me-home headlamps, electrically-adjustable mirrors and electric front windows, is priced at £16,725, while the mid-range LT is £17,825. The range topping LTZ, priced at £18,685, is one of the best-equipped cars in its class, with standard cruise control, 17-inch alloys, auto-dimming mirror, automatic headlights, climate control, rain-sensing wipers and aluminium-effect interior detailing.

The engine will be available initially in the 5 door Cruze Hatchback, and then feature in the Cruze station wagon later in 2012. Deliveries for the Cruze hatch 1.7 VCDi expected in May.

See our other Blog on the New Cruze Station wagon for details

Our View on new engine package

Cruze was crying out for a new frugal diesel package in this competitive Family hatch segment, As good as the other 2.0 VCDi unit is, with emissions of 147 g/km and return at the pumps of 50.4 mpg left it trailing behind its competitors. This new engine will add new appeal to the Cruze in this segment, with more and more people looking for frugal family cars at a competitive price.

Race 1 saw Yvan lead from pole holding off a strong challenge from Gabriele Tarquini in his Seat at turn one, From there Yvan never looked back as Gabriele himself came under pressure from Tom Coronel’s BMW, this allowed Yvan to pull out a lead and streak home to victory number 3 in WTCC this season after only two events.

Yvan said after the Race  “Fortunately I have the best car on the track, all the team do a perfect job. The Chevrolet team is probably one of the best team’s I’ve ever driven with, and today we can show the fact the car is just fantastic,”

Race 1 held mixed fortunes from Alain Menu and Rob huff in the other Chevrolet’s. Rob huff started a disappointing 5th on the grid in race 1 and managed to battle his way to 4th place but never really threatend the lead pack. Alain Menu started from 9th after a disappointing qualifying session as well, although did fight his way through the pack to eventually finish 5th, just three-tenths of a second behind Rob Huff.

Race 2 saw Alain Menu take the Win in his Chevy, although there was a few heart stopping moments for him. Menu had already pulled off moves on Stefan D’Aste in his BMW and Tom Coronel also in a BMW, when he appeared to loose his car on oil or fluid on the track. Luckily this affected all the lead cars and he kept the lead after rejoining the track. The action did’nt end there, coronel closed the gap right down to Menu on the last two laps in his BMW and after a defensive move by Menu to keep the lead the two cars collided, Menu’s car was sideways and after some wonderful car control Menu eased the Cruze home to take the double win for Chevrolet.

Menu said after the race “It has been an exciting race for me. I had a very good start, but I knew the BMW cars would be better and I had to be kind with my tyres for the first
laps. I took my time behind Stefano (D’Aste) and when I tried to get at him I maybe braked too late and we touched, which allowed Tom (Coronel) to close the gap. The finally I had my chance to overtake him before Turn 2. I created a gap, but then I was too cautious and this allowed Tom to catch me in the final laps.

The win takes Menu up to second in the Driver standings and leaves him 27points behind lead Chevrolet driver Yvan Muller.

Rob huff again had a disappointing time  in race 2, but managed to hold off his team mate Yvan to finish 6th. Yvan Muller was running behind Huff although had an off track experience which resulted in him dropping to 8th. But crucially still leading the driver standings leaving Valencia.

Driver standings really heating up now with Menu now leading Huff and Muller extending his lead at the top the other Chevrolet drivers will want a strong event next to stay in contention.

Next race takes place in Morocco Marrakesh on the 11-14th April

Driver standing after Two events

• 1. Yvan MULLER 88 pt.
• 2. Alain MENU 61 pt.
• 3. Tom CORONEL 58 pt.
• 4. Rob HUFF 57 pt.
• 5. Gabriele TARQUINI 44 pt.
• 6. Stefano D’ASTE 25 pt.
• 7. Norbert MICHELISZ 24 pt.
• 8. Pepe ORIOLA 24 pt.
• 9. Franz ENGSTLER 22 pt.
• 10. Rickard RYDELL 14 pt

• 1. Chevrolet 173 pt.
• 2. BMW Customer Racing Teams 108 pt.
• 3. SEAT Customer Technology 101 pt.

Alex MacDowall in his independent Bamboo engineering Chevrolet finished 7th overall, but more importantly finished third in the Yokohama trophy. After his second place in Race 1 this leaves him joint leader overall For The Independent Trophy leaving Monza. Congratulations to Alex and the Team great first event.

The Result Sees the Chevrolet Drivers leaving Monza locking out the top three places in the Driver standings, so the next round should be exciting with Both Rob Huff and Alain Menu looking for revenge.

Next Race at Valencia on the 1st April

Top ten results from Race 2 below:

01	Yvan Muller		9 Laps
02	Alain Menu		+0.307
03	Robert Huff		+0.613
04	Tom Coronel		+0.993
05	Stefano D		+6.125
06	Franz Engstler		+6.705
07	Alex MacDowall		+7.247
08	Norbert Michelisz		+10.238
09	Alberto Cerqui		+12.663
10	Rickard Rydell		+14.066

The Other Chevrolet of British Star Rob Huff finished second after a challenging start to the race where he had clashed with team mate Alain Menu, so this was very much a damage limitation exercise for huffy and he fought back from 5th after the incident to claim a battling second behind his team mate Muller. The Other Chevrolet of Alain Menu didn’t fair so well after the clash with Huff having been pitched into the gravel in the incident which dropped him to 12th, although he did eventually manage to recover through the pack to 7th place.

Rickard Rydell in another Chevrolet Cruze run by Chevrolet Sweden managed to finish a strong fourth narrowly missing out on a podium, having had a close battle with Rob Huff in his factory backed Chevy. This maybe Rydell’s only race in WTCC as current Swedish touring car champion he would need more budget to run more events in WTCC, as he will be defending his Swedish Touring car crown.

Best of the other Chevrolet’s was Brit Alex Mcodowall (above) in his bamboo engineering Cruze. This car is exactly the same spec as Brit Rob Huff although it is run by private team Bamboo Engineering in the championship. This is the Former BTCC stars first event in WTCC but he still managed a strong 8th behind experienced WTCC star Alain Menu. And took 2nd place in the Yokohama independents cup which is a superb result on his first outing.

Top Ten Race Results Below

01	Yvan Muller		12 Laps
02	Robert Huff		+0.446
03	Gabriele Tarquini		+2.305
04	Rickard Rydell		+2.745
05	Tom Coronel		+3.796
06	Pepe Oriola		+6.111
07	Alain Menu		+6.326
08	Alex MacDowall		+8.287
09	Norbert Michelisz		+8.431
10	Alberto Cerqui		+9.257

Lets see what race two will hold for us at 3:45PM out Eurosport

£29,995.

The UK spec Volt will be very well equipped featuring as Standard

The Volt has a Sister car coming to the UK In the Vauxhall Ampera, so how does this compare price wise to The Volt I hear you ask. Well the Vauxhall comes in two Trim levels and starts from £32,250 with the £5000 government grant, although this model doesn’t feature Sat Nav. So If you specify Sat Nav and Ive checked the Ampera comes in at £34,095 with the government grant. In comparison the Volt with Sat Nav/ audio system option would be….. £31,740 I make that £2355 cheaper than the Vauxhall version, No brainer if you ask me which one i’d buy based on this.

Our View on the Volt? First of all it looks superb, secondly I feel the main issues with all other electric cars have been recodified with the Volt. There is no risk of running out of juice mid journey and no where to charge up, but its still truly electric unlike Hybrid cars. I’d even say we will look back in the future and view the Volt as the Model T Ford of our time as this truly is a big step forward for electric vehicles. 

Main differences in the Race spec cruze compared to that found in road going version is in the Suspension, brakes, gearbox and engine. The Race Spec car uses in its suspension, gas-filled dampers with McPherson strut coil springs, and also uprated anti roll bars to cope with the additional punishment incurred in races, but to also make sure the car goes round a corner as fast as possible.

The Braking system is uprated using 332 mm steel ventilated discs with 4-piston calipers on the front and 280 mm steel ventilated discs with 2-piston calipers on the back. These Upgrades are essential due to the extra stress and speed of racing, as standard breaks would simply overheat and reduce breaking efficiency under the extreme use in races.

The Engine in current spec Chevrolet WTCC cars is a 1.6L 16V turbo Unit,this produces 310 BHP @5500 rpm and is built from Scratch by RML, the Motor sports team who run the Chevrolet WTCC effort. This engine I’m afraid to say isn’t available in the Road going Cruze Saloon and was specifically designed for racing, Although this year with a change of rules in the Championship the engine has to last a whole season, otherwise if changed the driver could incur a grid penalty and start from the back. So durability in the engine just like in Road going spec is now very important for the Chevrolet Team, although in the 2011 season there was no issues with this engine at all.Other difference with Race spec Cruze is found in the Gearbox. The race spec cruze has a gear stick jus like the road going version, although similarities end there. The race car has a 6-speed sequential shift, you still have a clutch for getting the car off the line on the start, but during the race you simply pull the gearstick back to move up the gears, and push forward to move down.

If you fancy yourself as a World Touring car star why not go for the Cruze CS below, comes with touring car style rear spoiler and wheels, with lowered suspension. So you really could be Rob Huff on the roads not literally though, as you’ll probably be introuble if you drove like him on the road.The Championship starts on the 10th March at Monza, and I have been told that live coverage of all races will be shown on EUROSPORT, which is on Sky and I’m sure Freeview as well. Chevrolet are the Defending champions in the Cruze, having won both the driver and manufacturer titles for the last two consecutive years. This years championship is looking very exciting, with Ford competing in the Focus for the first time, and Seat and BMW upping their efforts from last year to beat Chevrolet drivers Rob Huff, Ivan Muller and Alain Menu. There will also be huge competition in the Chevrolet Team, as Ivan Muller has won the Drivers crown for the last two years, just piping British driver Rob Huff on the last race last season. So Alain and Huffy will be eager to prove what they can do this year and beat Ivan.

(Picture Above, From left Alain Menu, Rob Huff, Yvan Muller, Eric Nev and Wayne Brannon)

Huffy really wants this year to be his year so lets all get behind him. We Stay up for every race, so come follow us on twitter @Chevy_fansUK and Add us on Facebook as Chevyfansuk page, for live race updates and general Chevrolet chat, news and gossip.

Another contributing factor is that across the range they offer of a 5yr warranty and a 3 years fixed price servicing package covering 30,000 miles, the latter costing £349 (except on Captiva which costs £449). Additional to that is sheer value for money Chevrolet really do offer superb value for money. For instance the New Aveo features as standard 15″ Steel Wheels, Cruise control with speed limiter, Electronic stability control (ESC), Hill Start Assist, Anti-Lock Braking System, Traction Control,Air Conditioning, for a starting price of £8995 WOW is my response. Considering this is a so called base model, if we compare to a base model fiesta which costs £9495, you don’t even get electric windows never mind Air con and Cruise control.

So where Can Chevrolet Go from here? Well with the launch of the New Aveo and UK spec Camaro earlier this month we should see yet more sales growth. And with the imminent launch of another two new models this year, the Chevrolet Cruze Station Wagon, and the Chevrolet Aveo SUV 2012 could be a very exciting year for Chevrolet.

Come Follow on twitter to keep up with all the News @Chevy_FansUK

Camaro starts from £34,995.00 with both the Coupe and the cabriolet featuring:
20″ midnight silver painted alloys
6.2 litre V8 engine
432PS, 596 NM of torque
6 speed transmission
Cruze control        
Brembo performance brakes
Head-Up Display
Full leather upholstery
Boston Acoustics 9-speaker premium audio system
Rear park assist & rear view camera

The Cabriolet (Shown Above) will add a folding roof which can retract in under 20 seconds, so you can savour a glorious V8 Growl and the wind in your hair.

Full details for Camaro are available on www.chevrolet.co.uk/cars/camaro and also through facebook where you can register your interest and receive details www.facebook.com/chevroletuk?sk=app_310198785682370