WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP THE ALFA ROMEO RACING TEAM GOES TO MACAO FOR THE LAST RACE IN THE SEASON GIOVANARDI FIGHTS FOR THE DRIVERS’ TITLE A FIFTH ALFA 156 FOR LOCAL DRIVER ANDRE COUTO

From Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 November, the World Touring Car Championship will go to China for the last event in the season, on the city circuit of Macao. At the end of a closely fought championship, the Alfa Romeo Racing Team is among the contenders for the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. As a result it will be entering five official Alfa 156s, driven by Fabrizio Giovanardi (third in the championship and a contender for the drivers’ title), Gabriele Tarquini (fifth in the standings), James Thompson (sixth), Augusto Farfus (eighth) and local driver Andre Couto, racing in his first World Touring Car Championship event.

Andre Couto was born in Lisbon (Portugal) on December 14, 1976, and made his racing debut in 1991. In the past season he was runner-up in the Japanese GT Championship, and was a protagonist of the same series this year. Couto raced for Alfa Romeo in 2003, at the 50th Macau Grand Prix Guia Race, taking pole position for race 1 at the wheel of an Alfa 147 Superproduzione.

The last race of the first World Touring Car Championship in Macao will be the stage for the final battle for the championship titles. Giovanardi is the Alfa Romeo driver who could win the first world title in the history of this speciality. The 2000, 2001 and 2002 European Champion (all with the Alfa Romeo colours), he arrives in Macao with five successes under his belt: in Imola, Puebla (Mexico), Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) and Istanbul (Turkey). These results put him in third place, just five points behind the provisional leader D. Muller (BMW).

Programme for Macao (China)

Torino, 16 novembre 2005

Thursday, November 17
3.10-3.40 pm World Touring Car Championship: test

Friday, November 18
9-9.30 am World Touring Car Championship: practice
12.30-1 pm World Touring Car Championship: practice
3-3.30 pm World Touring Car Championship: qualifying

Sunday, November 20
7.45-8 am World Touring Car Championship: warm-up
11.40 am -1.40 pm World Touring Car Championship: races 1-2

FIA World Touring Car Championship

Drivers:
1. D. Muller (BMW) 86; 2. Priaulx (BMW) 85; 3. Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo) 81; 4. J. Muller (BMW) 59; 5. Tarquini (Alfa Romeo) 55; 6. Thompson (Alfa Romeo) and Garcia (BMW) 51; 8. Rydell (Seat) and Farfus (Alfa Romeo) 49; 10. Zanardi (BMW) 31.

Manufacturers:
1. BMW 244; 2. Alfa Romeo 219; 3. Seat 170; 4. Chevrolet 57; 5. Ford 10.

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