Very nice results from SEAT Sport in Rounds 11/12 at Brno. Leading up to the race it looked as if the weekend was going to be one for the books. It turned out to be a great one for the books.
The SEAT Sport team achieved today a great overall result in Brno, venue of the sixth meeting of the World Touring Car Championship, with three of their drivers claiming a place on the rostrum on one of the less favourable circuits for the SEAT León TDI. Once again, team work bore fruit, and Yvan Muller managed to finish second, while Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro were both third, giving SEAT vital points to keep the leadership in the overall drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships which are led by the Spanish make since the beginning of the season.
Rickard Rydell scored in both races, finishing fourth and sixth, while Jordi Gené was once again the innocent victim of an accident in the first turn. Six cars were left out of the race by the accident, allowing Yvan Muller to move up to third. However, the French driver had damaged the front of his car and was set back, leaving Tarquini and Rydell the chance to overtake him and to finish on third and fourth positions respectively, behind the BMWs of Alex Zanardi and Jörg Müller.
In the second race, Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro started from the top positions, and thanks to their team work, they were able to finish second and third behind Sergio Hernández’ BMW. Behind them was a close fight between Müller, Zanardi, Tarquini and Rydell which ended with the SEAT drivers on fifth and sixth position, achieving important points for the championship as well.
Despite the evident technical disadvantage of the SEAT León TDI on the Brno circuit, since they had the turbo pressure limited to 2.7 bar, the final result has been very positive, considering that Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini are leading the overall drivers’ standing and SEAT is still on top of the manufacturers’ list.
The next round of the WTCC will be staged on the urban racetrack of Oporto on 4th and 5th July.
Provisional classifications
1st race:
1. Zanardi (BMW) 29.26.496
2. Müller (BMW) + 1.848
3. Tarquini (SEAT) + 4.831
4. Rydell (SEAT) + 5.105
5. Hernández (BMW) + 5.303
6. Monteiro (SEAT) + 7.250
7. Porteiro (BMW) + 7.847
8. Muller (SEAT) + 9.915
9. Coronel (SEAT) + 10.814
DNF: Gené (SEAT)
2nd race:
1. Hernández (BMW) 22.13.734
2. Muller (SEAT) + 2.316
3. Monteiro (SEAT) + 4.114
4. Porteiro (BMW) + 4.280
5. Tarquini (SEAT) + 7.232
6. Rydell (SEAT) + 7.857
7. Muller (BMW) + 8.902
8. Priaulx (BMW) + 8.852
9. Coronel (SEAT) + 10.369
….
11. Gené (SEAT) + 12.501
World Championship standings
Drivers:
1. Muller, 66.
2. Tarquini, 56.
3. Farfus, 54.
4. Müller, 41.
5. Rydell, 38.
6. Priaulx, 36.
7. Huff, 32.
8. Hernández, 29.
9. Gené, 24.
10. Monteiro, 22.
Manufacturers:
1. SEAT, 161.
2. BMW, 153.
3. Chevrolet, 103.
4. Lada, 45
- SEAT Sport
