Having won at Valencia in 2005, Jordi Gené is looking for another victory in his Seat León as pay back for the drive-through penalty which cost him the race lead, and possibly another win, last year, when he carries the hopes of the home Spanish fans at Rounds 5 and 6 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship on May 19-20.  

Gené has been incredibly unlucky to finish 9^th in the first race at both Curitiba (Brazil) and Zandvoort (Netherlands).  With the top eight starting the second race in reverse order, he has been just one place away from starting from pole twice and could conceivable have two wins and 22 points to his name and be second in the series.  Instead, Gené heads to Valencia looking for his first points of the season, with the extra motivation of giving his home fans something to celebrate. Having scored Seat Sport’s first victory of 2007 at Zandvoort, Gabriele Tarquini (Italy) is a close third in the WTCC standings and will carry 45kgs of handicap weight at Valencia. Yvan Muller (France) will have to push the León’s superb chassis to the limit around the 14 corners if he is to deny the more powerful and aero-efficient BMWs and Chevrolets any overtaking chances down the long Valencia start/finish straight.

Former Champ Car and NASCAR driver Michel Jourdain Jr (Mexico) has finished all four WTCC races this year and is quickly getting to grips with his FWD León, while Tiago Monteiro (Portugal) drove the Seat León for the very first time at Valencia and, having finished 4^th on this WTCC debut in Zandvoort, is looking forward to attacking the ‘Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo’ in anger for the first time. Tom Coronel, the Seat Netherlands powered by Seat Sport official driver, is one of only 14 drivers (out of 24) to have scored WTCC points, and he’ll be aiming for another giant-killing performance in his GR Asia Seat León. Fellow Seat Sport supported driver Pierre-Yves Corthals (Belgium) is tied on points at the top of the Independents Cup and will be trying to take the outright lead in his Seat Belgium/Exagon León. 

Having scored points in both races at Zandvoort, Roberto Colciago will be hoping to continue his good run in his Seat Sport Italia team León, while Emmet O’Brien (Ireland) will also be aiming for Independents Cup points in his GR Asia León. 

Technical analysis Xavier Serra, Seat Sport Race Engineer: “Valencia is very special as far as we're concerned, of course, but it's also quite special in that braking is a big issue there. In quite a few of the corners, you turn in under braking; that makes it really tricky for the drivers and, from the engineers' point of view, getting the set-up right is crucial. That doesn't happen at most of the other circuits where the braking is generally done in a straight line. I'm really confident that we'll do well there since all of our drivers have done a lot of laps of Valencia, even Tiago and Michel. We tested there twice over the winter and, of course, we've won there in the past and so we all know the circuit really well.” 

Driver quotes 

Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León nº 11): “Valencia is a good circuit and as a team will can go very well there.  Personally for me I will carry a lot of handicap weight – and with a lot of hard acceleration and braking, it is one of the worst tracks to carry weight.  Last year I carried 60kgs and I qualified 15th, so with 45kgs this year my tactics will be different to my team-mates.  I will try and finish in the top eight in the first race and start the second race from a good grid position, but for sure it will not be easy.” 

Yvan Muller: (SEAT León nº12): “Right now the BMWs and Chevrolets are very quick down the straights and also out of corners, so they have a big advantage.  Okay, we are as quick, if not a little quicker, through the corners, but then we lose out straight away, so if the rules stay the same I’m not so optimistic about the Championship. Of course I will do my best and we won’t have any weight in Valencia, but at the moment we can only challenge for race victories if we don’t carry any weight.” 

Tiago Monteiro (SEAT León nº 18): “For me, I think Valencia is one of the most difficult circuits for front-wheel drive touring cars, as there are very long corners and you need good entry, mid-corner and exit speed – so technique is very important.  I did my first test there with Seat Sport and now I have a little bit more experience with the León, so I hope to be more on the pace. At the moment, I’m just taking things race by race.” 

Jordi Gené (SEAT León nº 9): “Valencia is normally a very good circuit for me.  Not only am I looking forward to scoring my first points of the season there, I want to win and start my challenge for the title in front of the Spanish fans. I won in 2005 and I was leading last year before I had a drive-through penalty, so I hope my good run at Valencia will continue for a third year.  For sure it’s harder this year to win; with five BMWs, three Chevrolets, five SEATs and many good privateers, there are sixteen or more drivers that can win a race.” 

Michel Jourdain Jr (SEAT León nº10): “I’m pleased to have finished all four races this year and in Zandvoort I was more competitive than I was in Brazil, so things are getting better all the time.  Having tested there twice, I know the Valencia track quite well and hopefully I will be closer to the top guys.  I am on the tail of the cars running at a decent pace, and I want to be racing with my team-mates and trying to score points for SEAT. That is my aim.” 

Ballast 
Gabriele Tarquini: +45 kgs
Yvan Muller: +10 kgs
Tiago Monteiro: +15 kgsJordi Gené: +0 kgs
Michel Jourdain: +0 kgs 

Race details 
Race: 2007 WTCC Rounds 5/6Venue: Valencia, SpainLap distance: 4.005km
Timetable19/05: Free Practice 1 – 08.30-09.00;
Free Practice 2 – 11.30-12.00;
Qualifying – 15.00-15.30
20/05: Warm up – 08.00; Race 1 – 10.20 (13 laps, rolling start); Race 2 – 15.35 (13 laps, standing stard).
Pole Record: Augusto Farfus, (Alfa Romeo 156), 1:40.819/143.00kph (17/04/04)
Lap Record: Augusto Farfus (Alfa Romeo 156), 1.42.438/140.74kph (18/04/04)
Last Winners: 2006: Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller

TV schedule19/05: Qualifying on Eurosport 2 (15.30-16.00)20.05: Warm up on Eurosport (09.00-09.30);

Race 1 LIVE on Eurosport 2 (10.00-11.00); Race 1 repeat and Race 2 LIVE on Eurosport (15.00-16.15)