Last weekend was a great one for touring car fans. The Castrol EDGE-backed SEAT team scored their first victory of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship, while the Polestar Racing Volvos posted strong results in both the WTCC and Scandinavian Touring Cars.The Castrol EDGE-backed Audi and BMW teams began their preparations for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours at the event's official test, while Team Allgauer kicked off its European Truck Racing season at Donington Park.
Castrol-backed SEAT driver Gabriele Tarquini brought a halt to Chevrolet's run of wins in the 2011 World Touring Car Championship at Zolder. The former champion just missed the podium in race one, but converted his pole position for race two into his first victory of the season. "Zolder is a very technical track that suits our car, and this helped me today," Tarquini said. "When I was able to stay ahead after the first lap I knew that it was an opportunity to go for victory."
Polestar Racing gets it on the podium
The Castrol EDGE-backed Polestar Racing team had a bumper weekend, with Tommy Rustad and James Thompson notching up a pair of podium finishes in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship season-opener in Denmark. A second- and third-place finish for the pair in the Bioethanol-fuelled Volvo C30 at Jyllandsringen was followed by eighth place for Thompson in race two. In the World Touring Car Championship double-header at Zolder Robert Dahlgren scored the Polestar team's first ever points in the series, with seventh place in race two.
Team Allgauer starts solidly at Donington
The Castrol-backed Team Allgauer outfit got the 2011 European Truck Racing Championship off to a solid start at Donington Park. British star Stuart Oliver and Russian Alexander Lvov were unable to break into the top half of the pack in the four-race meeting, but posted consistent top-10 finishes, ultimately ending the event 11th and 13th in the points standings.
Audi and BMW star in Le Mans 24 Hour test
Preparations for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours race got underway at the famous La Sarthe circuit, with a one-day test for all entrants. The Castrol EDGE-backed Audi team set the pace in the lead LMP class, with Allan McNish topping the times in the new Audi R18 TDI, while the other two Audis were third- and fourth-fastest behind the lead Peugeot. In the production-based GTE Pro class, the Castrol EDGE-lubricated BMW M3 GTs were third- and seventh-fastest in a closely-matched field.
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