WTCC. 3rd round. Valencia
 SEAT
AND REPSOL CONSOLIDATE THEIR LEAD IN AT THE WTCC
Tarquini, second, and Gené, third, climb to the podium
in the first of the two races held this Sunday on the Ricardo
Tormo Circuit in Valencia (Spain)
SEAT managed brilliant results in the two WTCC races held
today in Valencia, taking two podiums and five positions within
the points range. Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gené
finished the first race in second and third position, while
Yvan Muller and Rickard Rydell held places among the eight
first drivers, giving SEAT a solid lead both in the rider
and constructor classification.
1st Race
An excellent start allowed Jordi Gené to lead the
first race ahead of Tarquini and Muller, placing three SEAT
León TDI's at the head of the race. However, none of
them were able to withstand Robert Huff, who with a much lighter
car had no problems in climbing positions until he reached
first place. Gabriele Tarquini took the chance to place himself
behind Huff in second position, but could not prevent the
Englishman from escaping.
From that moment on in the race, the SEAT drivers fought
to maintain their positions and to secure an important result
in order meet the objective of scoring points for the championship.
Gené and Muller had a tough race keeping Jorg Müller
(BMW) and Nicola Larini at bay, but both reached their objectives.
Rickard Rydell suffered the consequences when Farfus ran
off the track, losing a number of positions and staging a
comeback which took him to tenth position, right in front
of Tiago Monteiro and behind Tom Coronel.
2nd Race
With the first eight positions on the grid in reverse order,
the BMW's and the Chevrolet's were the ones struggling for
the victory. The SEAT drivers defended their options of scoring
points, first with Muller and Gené in fifth and sixth
position. An incident with Farfus held Muller back, while
Tarquini climbed to fifth position ahead of Gené, Rydell
and the French driver.
Tiago Monteiro was the only driver who did not reach the
finish line after a brush which finally forced him to withdraw,
and though Tarquini escaped ahead of his teammates, he was
unable to reduce the distance with those ahead of him, finishing
the race in fifth position and leading his three teammates,
who completed the last laps in formation, to try and score
important points for the championship.
Quotes
Gabrielle Tarquini >> 2nd and 5th
“A positive day for us. We scored points in both races,
taking a podium position.
I'm just sad that we didn't win one of the races at home,
but you can't always win. Our cars were very heavy and our
rivals were travelling very light. We did our best.”
Jordi Gené >> 3rd and 6th
“The weekend was positive. I wanted to take a podium
position in Valencia and I made it.
What's more, I've lifted some weight, if only simbolically,
facing the next race. I'm closer to my teammates in the struggle
for the Championship and SEAT has the most points. You can't
ask for more.”
Yvan Müller >> 4th and 8th
“I don't know what to say.
It was a bad day, because I was unable of taking advantage
of my pole position at any moment.”
Rickard Rydell >> 10th and 7th
“It was a good weekend for SEAT, scoring more points
for the championship in the constructor's category, but I'm
dissapointed with my own performance, because I only managed
to score two points.
I started out in tenth position in both races, and the best
I could do was a seventh position in the second race.”
Tiago Monteiro >> 11th and withdrawal
“It was frustrating. We knew it was going to be a tough
weekend, but we didn't imagine we'd have so many problems.
The qualification went very bad and we didn't get any opportunities
during the race due to the incidents. The positive side is
that they're lifting off some weight, not much, for the next
race, on a circuit I like a lot.”
Official results
>> Results 1st race
1. R. Huff (Chevrolet)
2. G.Tarquini (SEAT León TDI), + 5”376
3. J.Gené (SEAT León TDI), + 10”095
4. Y.Muller (SEAT León TDI), + 10”491
5. J.Müller (BMW), + 10”952
10º R.Rydell (SEAT León TDI), + 21”075
11º T.Monteiro (SEAT León TDI), + 22”016
>> Results 2nd race
1. A.Menu (Chevrolet)
2. R.Huff (Chevrolet), + 2”441
3. A.Priaulx (BMW), + 3”952
4. J.Müller (BMW), + 5”403
5. G.Tarquini (SEAT León TDI), +16”332
6. J.Gené (SEAT León TDI), + 19”171
7. R.Rydell (SEAT León TDI), + 19”662
8. Y.Muller (SEAT León TDI), + 19”662
Ab. T.Monteiro (SEAT León TDI)
>> General Classification
1. G. Tarquini (SEAT), 36 p.
2. Y. Muller (SEAT) 28 p.
3. R. Rydell (SEAT), 28 p.
4. J. Gené (SEAT), 24 p.
5. A. Priaulx (BMW), 22 p.
9. T. Monteiro (SEAT), 14 p.
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