11th May 2009

Boardman back in WTCC action in Pau

Tom Boardman will return to the FIA World Touring Car Championship this weekend at the historic French street circuit of Pau. Having missed the last race in Morocco, the 25-year old racing driver from Forton in Lancashire will use a newly-acquired SEAT Leon, which was driven by Darren Turner in last year’s British Touring Car Championship. Run throughout 2008 as a Leon TDI, the car has been converted from diesel to petrol specification by Special Tuning (UK) Ltd, for use in the WTCC.

Boardman has always put in strong performances in Pau, winning the SEAT Leon Eurocup event from pole position last year, which earned him his WTCC debut in Estoril. The SUNRED Engineering entered and www.club-seat.co.uk supported car will also be sporting a new livery, moving away from the yellow based design seen at the start of the season.

Speaking about the first European round of the 2009 WTCC season, Boardman commented: “It was difficult to watch the last race on television, so I will be glad to be back in action. I really enjoy the street circuits and the new car felt really good when I did a couple of shakedown laps at the end of last week, so I’m hoping that we can be right on the pace in France.”

All of the petrol-engined SEAT Leons racing at Pau this weekend will also benefit from a 20kg weight reduction, as the three event average performance of the various types of car has been used for the first time to calculate the compensation weights.