A year after debut in WTCC, LUKOIL presents its team – Lukoil Racing Team. Gabriele Tarquini and Alexey Dudukalo will compete on SEAT Leon bearing LUKOIL colors.
World champion 2009 and multiple champion of Russia will participate with a new 1.6l turboengine.
Evgeniy Malinovskiy (head of Lukoil Racing Team): “I am glad to present our program for World Championship 2012. Lukoil Racing Team will participate on SEAT Leon of current generation but with better technical support.
We have also prolonged contracts with drivers who presented us last season. First of all, I am glad that the world champion Gabriele Tarquini remains in our team. He is a most professional and victory-focused driver, whose experience will help us become stronger. This year in WTCC will be very important for Alexey Dudukalo. Alexey won Russian championships for many times, but it’s still difficult for him to compete in European races. Last season he lacked experience in competition and knowledge for a championship of such a high level, but this season we are expecting more stable results. As Alexey receives the necessary experience and good cars, his driving brings better results.
WTCC is one of the most effective marketing and sport tools for LUKOIL. They have excellent infrastructure to create guest programs for partners of the company. Last year we held several promotional and image-building events during competitions, and we are satisfied with their results.”
Gabriele Tarquini: “I am very glad that LUKOIL confirmed me as one of their drivers, this was not guaranteed. Also, I am very proud to be selected to train the next generation of Russian drivers. Now I’m eager to start the next season. Of course, we will use the same SEAT Leon cars, but I expect much from the new engine. In general, I think that we will be stronger than the year before, and our positions allow us to compete with Chevrolet.”
Alexey Dudukalo: “We will open the new season on better cars. I would like this to give us more chances to rise higher than last year. Then the main problem for us was the engine that has less power and reliability than those of our competitors. This time we will not have this problem, plus we can rely on better experience and technical support. Evgeny Malinovskiy has done good work between the seasons, and now everything depends on us.”
Cars of Lukoil Racing Team will arrive on the track for the first time early in February during the pre-season tests.
