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Yvan Muller

Both races held on the French track of Pau finished with a good result for SEAT Sport, since Yvan Muller, Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell were able to step onto the podium, thus allowing the make and their drivers to stay on top of the World Championship standings. The first race was staged on a dry track and the second in the rain, and the SEAT León TDI showed its competitiveness in both of them, despite the weight differences compared to its rivals.

Gabriele Tarquini, with the heaviest car on the grid, managed to finish fifth and fourth, thus keeping him on top of the overall drivers’ standings. And together with his team-mates, he contributed to scoring enough points for SEAT to continue leading the constructor’s championship.

Race 1

A multiple accident after the start forced the race direction to show the red flag since the track was completely blocked. Pierre Yves Coarthals and Oscar Nogués were forced to retire, whilst Tiago Monteiro had a damaged car. When the race was restarted, Farfus had no problems to escape in the lead, followed by Yvan Muller and Jordi Gené on second and third, who kept their positions until the end of the race.

Further in the back, Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell battled it out with Robert Huff, one of the most interesting aspects of the race. Tarquini was however not able to stand the attacks of the Chevrolet driver, who reached the final part of the race with tyres in much better conditions thanks to a much lighter car, forcing the Italian to hand the fourth place over. Tarquini and Rydell finished in fifth and sixth position.

Race 2

The second race was held in heavy rain forcing the race direction to start the race behind the Safety Car. Priaulx (BMW) and Larini (Chevrolet) took the leading positions from the start, followed by Rydell, Tarquini and Gené.

Throughout the race and under very difficult conditions due to the rain and the puddles, Rydell stayed behind the leaders waiting for a mistake that did not come. Tarquini kept himself at a prudent distance, while Gene was forced to get back into the pits to fix a tyre. This allowed Yvan Muller to make up one position and finish seventh. Tiago Monteiro was able to make up some positions after the hard fight with Muller’s BMW and Tom Coronel’s SEAT WTCC, both finishing very close to the points.

Drivers’ statements

Yvan Muller: (SEAT León TDI no. 12), 2nd/7th: ‘The weekend hasn’t been that bad for us considering the ballast our cars were carrying. But we cannot be happy with the results. We could have been topping the standings but we will have to wait for the race in Brno’.

Rickard Rydell (SEAT León TDI no. 10), 6th/3rd: ‘I’m, very happy with my results after the first time in Pau, and I’ve been able to enjoy a very efficient car throughout the weekend, especially in the wet. I’m also happy because the team has made a great job scoring loads of points’.

Jordi Gené (SEAT León TDI no. 9), 3rd/19th: ‘The weekend has been good for us. We can be happy. I had a good qualifying and also a good first race. One of my tyres was damaged by the kerb in the second race. I would have been able to score some more points if it wasn’t for that’.

Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León TDI no. 11), 5th/4th: ‘We must be positive. With such a heavy car the least thing I expected was to score nine points. I think that the key was the good qualifying of yesterday. It allowed us to achieve such an unexpected result’.

Tiago Monteiro (SEAT León TDI no. 18), 13th/10th: ‘I did not achieve what I expected. The races were good for the team, we continue scoring points, but not for me because nothing worked out as it should. The constant weather changes were negative’.

Jaime Puig, SEAT Sport Director: ‘It’s a positive weekend since the team has worked very hard under very difficult conditions, but the weight differences with respect to our rivals conditioned our chances’.

RACE 1

1. A.Farfus (BMW)
2. Y. Muller (SEAT León TDI) + 17’851
3. J.Gené (SEAT León TDI) + 18’111
4. R.Huff (Chevrolet) + 19’139
5. G.Tarquini (SEAT León TDI) + 20’608
6. R.Rydell (SEAT León TDI) + 21’265
13. T.Monteiro (SEAT León TDI) + 25’417
14. T.Coronel (SEAT León WTCC) + 26’573
DNF P.Y. Corthals (SEAT León WTCC)
DNF O.Nogués (SEAT León WTCC)

RACE 2

1. A.Priaulx (BMW)
2. N.Larini (Chevrolet), + 4’528
3. R.Rydell (SEAT León TDI) + 5’000
4. G.Tarquini (SEAT León TDI) + 14’424
5. R.Huff (Chevrolet) + 18’324
6. A. Farfus (BMW) + 19’968
7. Y. Muller (SEAT León TDI) + 25’140
9. T.Coronel (SEAT León WTCC) + 39’471
10. T.Monteiro (SEAT León TDI) + 41’636
16. O.Nogués (SEAT León WTCC) + 1’16’688
19. J.Gené (SEAT León TDI) + 1 v.
21. P.Y. Corthals (SEAT León WTCC) + 2 v.