ZÜRICH / WELLINGBOROUGH, 21st July 2007– For the first time since Chevrolet launched its WTCC programme three years ago, a fourth works car will be entered at the Swedish round of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship. Local touring car and sportscar specialist, Rickard Rydell, will drive the number 88 Chevrolet Lacetti at the former F1 Grand Prix track of Anderstorp, the fourth and last new track on the 2007 calendar.

This season, going to a new track has always spelled success in big bold letters for Chevrolet, as the blue Lacettis have been victorious at every new venue visited this year. Zandvoort, Pau and Porto have all been added to Alain Menu’s tally; the Portuguese 1-2-3-finish emphasizing the Chevrolet team’s ability to adapt to new circumstances in no time. Will the trend continue at Anderstorp? Rickard Rydell will benefit from being the lightest Chevrolet Lacetti on the grid – only carrying the ten kilograms that every new entry gets – which might put him in the best position to continue Chevrolet’s 2007 ‘tradition’.

• QUOTES

Alain Menu: “I’ll have to change my philosophy towards the races, now that I’m the leading Chevrolet driver in the point standings. Before I just tried to win as many races as possible whenever I was running light, but since Porto I’ll have to be more tactical. So I’ll be going for maximum points possible in both races. I have prepared myself as much as I could for Anderstorp and hope to count on the experience of Rick and Nic, who have raced there before. But as I have shown in the past, I tend to learn new tracks pretty quickly.”

Nicola Larini: “I quite like the Anderstorp track. I won there in the ETCC days in 2002 and 2003 and the front-wheel drive cars could do well here. I have Porto behind me and I’m now really focused on getting as many points as possible again, which won’t be easy with 55 kilograms of ballast onboard. My objective is to finish first of the FWD cars in the championship at the end of the year.”

Rob Huff: “I’m very much looking forward to Anderstorp, off the back of our awesome 1-2-3 in Porto. I will not be as easy for us in Sweden, since all three of us are now running a fair bit of ballast and since the track is a rather fast one, judging by the lay-out: lots of sweeping corners and a long straight. I’ll certainly be looking at Rickard for some inside circuit knowledge!”

Rickard Rydell: “It’s good to be back in the WTCC, especially with Chevrolet. I went to Porto with the team to get a feel for things, and the absolute master class the guys demonstrated there made me feel even better about racing in Sweden again. I haven’t raced at Anderstorp since the ETCC in 2003, and before that it was during my early F3 days. The track is quite special, with four long and banked corners; three of them in third gear and one in fourth. It is not something you find on many other tracks. I will use the three test and practice sessions before qualifying to get the best out of the Chevrolet Lacetti, and I hope to be in a position to give the Swedish fans a good show and something to cheer for.”

Mark Busfield: “Just before Porto we tested at Pembrey to improve the brakes and fine-tune the set-ups. This was done by Rickard and I’m sure a man with his wealth of experience will have little problem in getting acquainted with his new ‘office’ in racing conditions. It will of course be the first time Chevrolet enters four works cars, so that means bringing extra people to the race. Rickard will be looked after by Phil Barker, who has lots of FWD and touring car experience as well. With Rickard running a light car on a track he knows, we have an extra chance of good results in Anderstorp.”

Eric Nève: “Once again, the WTCC is on the move and setting the trend by visiting a new market where racing on a level like the World Touring Car Championship hasn’t been a visitor in a long time. At Chevrolet we like trendsetting and go to places we’ve never been before, as the recent past has shown the Lacetti is dominant when it comes to discovering new venues. And to have a Swede as talented as Rickard on our side for this race, will certainly bring even more fans to the track, something which can only help to further increase the friendly and open image the WTCC already has. Furthermore, being able to enter a fourth RML Chevrolet Lacetti is a clear recognition of the quality of the work the team has done in the past three seasons in getting Chevrolet from strength to strength.”