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Last Winter Test for Cruzes at Valencia

Muller and Huff take the wheel, Cruze sports 2012 livery

2012-02-09

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VALENCIA - With the start of the 2012 WTCC season barely a month away, the Chevrolet team has taken to the track at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Spain, for the final winter test session.

Reigning champion Yvan Muller and teammate Rob Huff are putting the Cruze through its paces ahead of the first race scheduled for Monza on 11 March. Alain Menu, who was one of the most successful touring car drivers in the 90s, tested the Cruze  in Valencia earlier in the year, is working with his team mates and the engineers to get the cars ready for the season. The tests ran on February 7^th and 8^th.

While most of Europe is covered in snow and ice, weather conditions in eastern Spain are ideal, with sunny and dry conditions, although windy and cooler than usual. This allowed the Chevrolet team to carry the entire work program for two days, essentially aimed at validating the 2012 Cruze configuration and specs.

The two Cruzes are also showing off their 2012 livery for the first time, a design characterized by a more prominent presence of the blue color which has become synonymous with Chevrolet in the WTCC.

A third Cruze, which Rickard Rydell will use to defend his title in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC), was also involved in testing at the Valencia track.

The Cruze is run by Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden’s team Nika Racing.

• QUOTES

Yvan Muller: “It’s nice to be at the wheel of a race car again and I’m happy we have good track conditions. Today was mostly a day for the engineers as they wanted us to test and compare a number of things. I am anxious to get back to racing soon. ”

Rob Huff: “we have covered considerable mileage, and this is exactly what drivers need and engineers want at this time of the year. Although there aren’t striking differences between this year’s and last year’s cars, the team has been working a lot during the winter and the Cruze feels very good to drive.”

Alain Menu: “Working with the team, Yvan and Rob is certainly very useful. This year, I’ll be working with a new engineer, Phil Barker, who already has a great deal of experience with touring cars as he was involved in Chevrolet’s BTCC program; so it was important for the two of us to be here.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet is celebrating its centennial as a global automotive brand. In 2010, about 4.25 million Chevrolets were sold in more than 120 countries or one every 7.4 seconds. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. Chevrolet has a strong heritage in the Middle East – stretching back more than eight decades – where it has established itself as one of the most trusted automotive brands in the region. The Chevrolet portfolio includes passenger cars, crossovers SUVs and pickups, from the Camaro and Corvette performance cars, to award-winning passenger cars including the Spark, Sonic, Cruze and Malibu, to crossovers like the Captiva and Traverse, to the Colorado and Silverado pickups.  Chevrolet offers fuel-saving engines, hybrids and the Volt extended-range electric vehicle, which provides up to 64 km of electric, gasoline-free driving and a total driving range of 570 km.  More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at http://media.chevroletarabia.com