The weekend of July 7-8 sees the second of this season’s three street circuit races for the FIA World Touring Car Championship, running on Yokohama Advan control tyres. However, unlike the first of the three, the Portuguese round, held in Porto, is likely to be more unpredictable as the city streets were not used as a racetrack for years prior to the course’s re-establishment in 2005. Forming part of the city’s road network, the circuit is made up of streets that in daily life are home to much more mundane traffic than it will see during the weekend.

Arguably, the Yokohama Advan racing tyres will play a crucial part this weekend, as the World Touring Cars will be on the streets just hours after HGVs. Ian explains: “If the race in Porto is anything like it was in Pau, the organisers probably won’t close the streets to form the circuit until a few hours before the day’s session gets underway. And in Pau, they opened the roads between days, closing them around three hours before the cars started running on each day.