One week on from the champagne and festivities of Beijing, the LADA Sport FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) team will return to action at China’s ultra-modern Shanghai International Circuit this weekend (11-12 October).
Located in the Jiading district in the North Western outskirts of Shanghai – China’s largest city – the 4.6mile track was inaugurated in 2004 and has hosted the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix ever since.
This will be the WTCC’s fourth consecutive visit to Shanghai, after the championship first raced on the short Tianma Circuit in 2011.
After LADA made history in the WTCC, winning for the first time ever last weekend in Beijing, we put some questions to WTCC Promoter François Ribeiro and LADA President Bo Andersson.
As the championship promoter, what did you feel after LADA’s maiden WTCC victory in Beijing?
François Ribeiro: “When I saw Rob Huff on the highest step of the podium, I remembered the first time I met new LADA President Bo Andersson, during the Russian round of the World Championship at Moscow Raceway, when he explained how important the WTCC is to revamping LADA as a manufacturer and a brand.”
Could you tell us what Bo Andersson told you during that meeting?
François Ribeiro: “He explained how much he believed the WTCC could help drive the LADA brand change, both internally and externally. I imagine how strong the emotions must have been for any LADA employee last Sunday. Also, all those I’ve met in motorsport since the Moscow Motor Show has said how great the new LADA Vesta WTCC looks. I’m sure the first victory at Beijing is only the first step of what will be an exciting story next year. As WTCC championship promoter and broadcaster, Eurosport will just help to tell that story as best as possible.”
As a manufacturer, having won a World Championship race for the first time, what did you feel after LADA’s victory in Beijing?
Bo Andersson: “The feeling of being on top is something special. For us, this result is absolutely priceless, because LADA’s road in the FIA World Touring Car Championship has not been easy or smooth. The harder your path, the more emotions you feel after you’ve climbed to the top. I have no doubt that everybody at the LADA factory and every LADA owner in Russia and abroad feel the same – pride, happiness and enthusiasm. I often wear LADA Sport T-shirt at the presentations of our new models to show my strong belief in our racing team.”
What impact do these strong results in motorsport have on brand image?
Bo Andersson: “I always compare racing with the manufacturer’s activity on the automotive market. As racing drivers do their best to reach the fastest lap time, LADA also puts in a lot of effort to give its customers better quality, better design and better car characteristics. In eight months of 2014, we implemented over 900 technical improvements, which resulted in a 30 per cent increase in quality! This is also a victory for us! We have strong ambitions in motorsport and in the production of modern road cars as well. The enthusiasm is a strong emotion that comes from the racetrack, and we try to transfer this enthusiasm to all processes in our company – manufacturing, marketing, sales, and brand communication. No doubt, we have many victories ahead of us. We are sure that LADA Sport will show good results in the forthcoming races in Shanghai, Suzuka and Macau. And we have high hopes for 2015 with our new LADA Vesta WTCC model.”
For more information on LADA Sport, please visit the official wtcc.lada.ru website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @ladasportwtcc on Twitter.