After the season opener in Brazil and a subsequent long interval that was more than a month, the third and fourth round of the 2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) were held at Zandvoort, Netherlands. Haarlem, an old town in the western part of the country, is renowned by the culture of tulips and the 4,300m circuit is only 10km away in the western part of the town.

Both races of the Brazilian round were totally dominated by BMW drivers who monopolised the top three spots, but cars for those three drivers were penalised 35kg additional weight for this event. Consequently, it was the Chevrolet drivers who set the pace in practice sessions, driving their brand-new 2007 spec cars. With their good form continuinf in qualifying session, Alan Menu got the pole position and Nicola Larini took second, therefore the front row of the grid was occupied by two Chevrolet Lacetti's.

Race one (13 laps), the third round of the series, started at five past noon local time on 6th April. From the rolling start, the two Chevrolets quickly pulled away. Behind them, a few cars made contact with each other and Yvan Muller of SEAT Leon had to retire very early in the race.

A few laps later, Rob Huff, in another Chevrolet, was in hard contention and chasing the pack when he crashed. This caused the Safety Car to come in and the wide lead that Menu and Larini had built up was lost. After the race resumed, however, the Chevrolet drivers resumed their pace and ensured a firm one-two formation.

As a result, Menu made a pole-to-win in race one. It was his first win since the fifth round of last season at Brand's Hatch. Then Larini took the checkered flag in the second, which meant that Chevrolet's first ever one-two finish in WTCC was achieved. Meanwhile, the newest addition to the SEAT camp and ex-grand prix driver Tiago Monteiro who was making his debut in WTCC finished in fourth.

Race two, the fourth round, started at 15:35 local time. Because the reverse grid system was applied for the top eight finishers of race one, the pole sitter of race two was Andy Priaulx of BMW.

In a race that began with a standing start, Priaulx defended his lead position in the first corner, but it was Gabriele Tarquini in SEAT Leon who completed the opening lap as the race leader. Jorg Muller of BMW Team Germany also made a good start and jumped up from tenth on the grid to sixth.

On lap 3, the winner of race one, Menu went off course and his race ended on the spot. Then on lap 7, Priaulx went off the track and, although he could come back immediately, Larini's Chevrolet passed him during the incident. Larini eventually came up to fourth on lap 10, but there was no position change among the upper echelon afterwards.

Consequently, Tarquini who started from second on the grid won race two and brought the SEAT camp their first win of the season, then Augusto Farfus and Jorg Muller followed.

Born in Switzerland, on 9th August, 1963.

Menu started competition in the 1986 French Formula Ford Championship, and then moved to the British Formula Ford Championship the following year.
In 1990, he won two races in the British F3000 Championship and finished the season in second. Then he started his new career as a tin-top racer and took part in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 1992.
Driving Renault Ragna, he scored twelve races in the 1997 BTCC series and won the championship. He repeated the feat again in the 2000 season with Ford Mondeo.
In 2005, he joined the Chevrolet team to drive in the inaugural WTCC series. His first win in the WTCC came at Brand's Hatch last year.

Born in Italy, on 19th March, 1964.

Larini won five races in the 1986 Italian F3 Championship series and took the title with Dallara Alfa Romeo. Afterwards, he drove for the marque in various categories.
In the 1992 Italian Super Touring Car Championship and the 1993 German Touring Car Championship (DTM), he became the series champion driving Alfa Romeo 155.
He also drove in Formula 1 from 1987 to 1997 and his best result in the period was second in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
In the WTCC, he has driven for Chevrolet since the 2005 season and his highest finish to date in the series is the second.

Zandvoort circuit (Netherlands)

The Zandvoort circuit is located in western Haarlem where it is renowned by the culture of tulips which is the most notable product of the Netherlands and only about 10km away from town.
It was built on an old transport road laid by the German army during the World War �U. The designer of the circuit was John Hugenholtz who was also involved in the planning of the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.
The full length of the course has been changed several times by modifications over the years and it is 4.3 km in the current layout. As the circuit is very close to the beach, it is often windy. Consequently, the surface is covered by sand blown by the wind, which makes the track very slippery.
The most exciting part to watch is the section after the exit of high speed final corner (that leads to the home stretch) to the entry of the turn 1 where there is a very tight U-turn corner.