ROUNDS 1 & 2 - CURITIBA, BRAZIL
RACE 1 REPORT
Weather: sunny and hot with a dry track.
SEAT SPORT CLAIM A 1-2 FINISH
SEAT Sport drivers Yvan Muller and Rickard Rydell held off
the BMW Team Germany's attack of Augusto Farfus and Jörg
Müller, to win the first race in Curitiba.
This was a tough race for the leading two, who in the final
laps had to work hard to defend their position as their tyres
were wearing out. However, it was even tougher for Chevrolet.
On lap 3 Nicola Larini made contact with Robert Huff, who
spun in the centre of the racetrack. Larini could not continue
the race, but Huff continued and began to make up ground by
overtaking Félix Porteiro, only to pit on lap 8 with
rear suspension failure; a late result of the collision. Alain
Menu had also pitted earlier following a shunt with Jordi
Gené and did not resume the race.
Farfus had a poor start falling back to fifth, as he was
one of cars to take to the grass at the first corner. However,
he quickly made up ground passing Müller on lap 3, and
then both of them passed Gabriele Tarquini on lap 8 moving
up to third and fourth respectively. For the remainder of
the race Farfus chased the leading cars, but on the final
lap came under pressure from his team mate and had to defend
third place until the finish.
Reigning world champion Andy Priaulx took fifth spot following
late overtaking of Tarquini and Gené. Porteiro made
up the top eight finishers in the race, overtaking Tom Coronel.
However it will be Tom Coronel (9th classified) to start from
pole on the reverse grid of the second race as Gené
was given a 30 second penalty due to hitting Menu.
In the Independents' class the fight for the first place
between Pierre-Yves Corthals and Sergio Hernández ended
in a final lap contact. Corthals crossed the line first but
eventually he was given a 30-second penalty and Olivier Tielemans
inherited victory.
BULLET NEWS
BUREAU LIMITS DIESEL TURBO PRESSURE
The FIA Touring Car Bureau have issued a decision this morning
to limit the supercharged air pressure and the fuel rail pressure
on the SEAT León TDI cars.
Both pressures have been limited to the average maximum values
measured by the FIA data logger during yesterday's qualifying
session.
This decision only applies to the current race meeting.
ALAIN MENU BACK IN ACTION
Alain Menu has fully recovered from his crash during yesterday's
qualifying session. The Swiss driver was discharged by Curitiba's
Cajuru hospital after all the scans were negative and this
morning he was cleared to race after a final check from the
FIA medical delegate.
The Chevrolet team worked until 1.00am on Sunday morning
to repair his Lacetti car that suffered from extensive damage
to the bodywork and suspension.
WARMUP - FARFUS FASTEST, D'ASTE CRASHES
Stefano D'Aste crashed at turn 9 near to the end of the warm
up session, seriously damaging his BMW, but escaped unharmed.
However Proteam Motorsport's mechanics were able to repair
the car in time for the races.
The crash happened with one minute to go in the session,
which was red flagged and not resumed. This left Augusto Farfus
as fastest with a time of 1:24.237 leading a BMW 1-2-3 from
Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID.
Yvan MULLER
"I wasn't expecting to keep my position for the whole
race for several reasons: the temperature went up very quickly
and the weather wasn't in our favour. Also the lap times of
the BMW showed they were very consistently quick, and it was
hard. It wasn't easy at all because any small mistake could
have caused the end, so we had attack all the way through."
Rickard RYDELL
"I am very pleased with the result today. It was one
of the toughest races I have had and it was clear that BMW
were half a second quicker than us and they pushed. Yvan and
I have to thank Gabriele (Tarquini) because without him there
we would have had to deal with the pressure for the whole
race, but we only had to it for half of the race. I really
didn't think it would be possible to keep Farfus behind me."
Augusto FARFUS
"I was right on the limit and could not have pushed
more, we were quite strong and they did a very good job. It
is very hard to overtake in those conditions and I am happy
with 3rd as the championship is very long. The start wasn't
the problem, but there was a bit of a mess at the first corner
and I went onto the grass and was able to slot into 5th place."
Pierre-Yves CORTHALS
"I couldn't have wished for a better start, I am sorry
for Coronel who I bumped, but I am happy. I had a good fight
with Hernández, he passed me but on the last last he
braked really early compared to me and I slightly bumped him,
for which I am sorry, and went through."
RACE 2 REPORT
Weather: cloudy and hot with a dry track.
Crowd: 45,000 over the weekend
TARQUINI ROUNDS OFF SEAT'S GREAT DAY
On the day of his 46th birthday Gabriele Tarquini gave himself
an outstanding present by winning the second race in Brazil
and also got his payback for helping out his team-mates (Yvan
Muller, who leaves Brazil as the championship co-leader with
Tarquini, and Rickard Rydell) in the first race.
He started on the second row, but as Tom Coronel and Félix
Porteiro fell back, he surged through to the front. He held
off a strong challenge from Porteiro, and then from the eventual
second place position holder Andy Priaulx.
Tarquini took the lead at a start that saw Chevrolet's Robert
Huff shunted off the track by another car on the first corner,
the rear left suspension collapsed and he was unable to continue.
With Nicola Larini and Alain Menu also finishing out of the
points, it rounded off a bad weekend for Chevrolet.
Coronel did not have the pace to compete with the BMW and
SEAT works cars and he fell back to an eventual ninth position.
On the third lap he was overtaken by Jörg Müller,
Yvan Muller and Rickard Rydell, then later by a charging Augusto
Farfus.
Müller and Muller fought over fourth place, and the
BMW Team Germany driver eventually came out on top, with the
Frenchman behind him in fifth. Farfus battled past Rydell,
and they finished sixth and seventh respectively, as Farfus
could not find a way past Muller in the final laps. After
his penalty from the earlier race Jordi Gené began
the race in ninth, but moved ahead of Coronel to secure the
final point.
On lap 9 Priaulx squeezed past Porteiro going into turn 1,
and then chased after Tarquini. However, the Italian kept
him at bay to take the chequered flag in his SEAT, ahead of
three BMW drivers.
In the Independents' class Olivier Tielemans, who had won
the first race due to a 30-second time penalty imposed to
Corthals, triumphed again. He enjoyed a close battle with
Alessandro Zanardi and eventually finished in fourteenth position
overall.
BULLET NEWS
FARFUS EXCLUDED FROM RACE 1
Augusto Farfus, who had finished third in today's first race
was later excluded by the Stewards following a report from
the FIA Technical Delegate.
Farfus' car was excluded because of a technical breach, which
consisted of the "V" support for the fixation of
the engine protection not complying with the technical regulations.
However, the Stewards considered that there was no fraudolent
intent from the team.
THREE CARS STARTED AT THE BACK
Three drivers - Nicola Larini, Sergio Hernández and
Alain Menu - asked for neutralization of the park fermé
between the two races, in order to repair damage obtained
in the collisions they were involved in during the first race.
As a consequence they were all pushed to the back of the
grid for the second race.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID.
Gabriele TARQUINI
"I'm 46 today, so this is the best present, as you feel
old when you look around you. It was a tough race, but I got
a very good start. I think in the first corner Porteiro drove
too much over the kerb at turn 4 and I took the lead. This
is where I made the victory. We had improved the set up for
the second race, but it was the speed and lack of mistakes
that helped me win. The pressure was strong as Porteiro was
very fast in the first few laps, and the last laps were very
hard."
Andy PRIAULX
"It was an interesting race, we were in a good position
from the start. The car felt really good, but Gabriele (Tarquini)
drove a really fast race, he made a good move at the beginning,
he was very opportunist, and drove very tidy. So I hope I
can drive as well as him when I'm 46! I was surprised he started
so well, as I thought maybe I could sneak up the inside of
him in turn 1. I'd rather be in front of him than the other
way round, but he should be pleased with his race."
Félix PORTEIRO
"It was a good start to the season, after I qualified
13th I didn't expect to be in the points this weekend because
we had some problems with the car. We worked very hard for
the first race and improved a little bit, but for the second
one we improved a lot and were very competitive at the beginning,
although not at the end. I expected Andy (Priaulx) to overtake
me; in the first two laps I thought I could win the race because
I was very competitive, then after 4 laps I could see it was
difficult to compete with Tarquini, and I didn't want have
an accident with another BMW so I didn't close the door too
much. I was happy with third in the end."
Olivier TIELEMANS
"This is my second year and I'm pretty happy that I
can start with two wins, and it's very good for the team,
so I'm happy for them as well. I had an incredible fight with
Alessandro Zanardi; when I was very young I watched him in
Formula 1 and now I fighting with him for position, but in
the end he was much stronger and pushed me a little wide at
the first corner, which is why I lost my position. Anyway
I'm happy to be the best Independent."
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