About

The reasons for the program
We started operations in October 2002 as GM Daewoo Europe. We always stated that it was our objective to be "easy to do business with" and that we want to offer expressive styling, proven technology, solid performance, quality and reliability and all this at an affordable price. All of this is right in line with the philosophy of Chevrolet on a global level.

We have announced a few months ago that we would sale our cars as Chevrolet and to gain awareness, we have looked at different possibilities and it rapidly turned out that Motorsport was the best platform for a manufacturer to get the maximum impact.

Why Motorsport?
When we go motor racing as a manufacturer, as it is the case in WTCC, we are NOT a sponsor of motor racing. We want to demonstrate the depth of our resources, reliability and the quality of our products.

We will use what we'll learn from racing and of course all the learning will eventually benefit our customers.

At the same time, it is amazing to see how well the program is received by the employees and especially by your colleagues of the dealer network.

Why WTCC?
When looking at what was possible in terms of alternatives, we thought that the WTCC would best fit to our needs:

  • the costs are well under control

  • the TV coverage and the marketing package is of great value

  • the spectacle offered to the spectator is the best what motor racing can offer

  • the WTCC is right in line with our Brand positioning, as described earlier

Technical approach
Now from a technical point of view, we have identified the, what we call the "J 200" platform as the most suitable for a S2000 racing car. After some wind tunnel testing and meetings with the FIA, we have defined the final package (J200 4 doors / 2 liter Canadian version).

For those of you who are familiar with the technical regulations, you know that the base is the Group A with a few specific amendments. For each area where you feel that your car cannot match with competition in terms of performances, you have to file a case to the FIA Touring Car commission who will study it and decide whether your request can be accepted or not.

In the case of the Chevrolet WTCC, we felt we needed to ask for special permission in the areas of:

  • suspension (body height)
  • and body width

Chevrolet’s Successes
At the End of the Season 2006 Chevrolet’s WTCC drivers have been in a festive mood, easily explained by their performances during the 2006 campaign, which netted two wins and several more podium finishes, thus achieving the objectives set at the beginning of Chevrolet’s WTCC campaign. The 2005 season would be all about climbing the learning curve in what is probably the most competitive of FIA World Championships. In 2006 Chevrolet was to make its presence felt amongst the established values of touring car racing, and again the RML-run team did exactly that. Alain Menu scored a first podium finish at the season’s opener in Monza and followed that up with a magnificent historic first win at a rain-soaked Brands Hatch. From then on, Chevrolet was no longer the new kid on the block, but a team to be reckoned with as was amply proved by Rob Huff’s maiden win in Brno and by Nicola Larini’s podium finishes in Brno and Valencia.

What our drivers expect from the 2007 Seasons:

Nicola Larini: “We are now at a much better level of preparation than we were last year, so I’m sure we’ll be good all season. Exactly how good is difficult to say of course, because even though we tested at the same time as some of our competitors it is difficult to gauge their progress. Nevertheless we’re confident we can score points in both races at any given race weekend.

Alain Menu: “It definitely looks more promising than it ever did before the start of a new season. Whereas before the two previous seasons we were constantly hampered in our test efforts by the bad weather, this time we’ve had the weather gods on our side and managed to rack up a phenomenal number of test miles, which underlines the reliability of the car. I therefore think it should be possible to go for points at each race, which should allow us to be within the top five at the end of the season.”

Rob Huff: “I’m quietly confident about this year. This is the third year of the programme, what I would call the “showtime year”, the year where we need to get results.”