The SEAT Sport team has made a significant step forward in their aim to reconfirm the two World Touring Car Championship titles achieved in 2008. The Italian racetrack of Imola hosted the tenth meeting of the WTCC, and SEAT achieved two excellent victories, including one-two finishes. Gabriele Tarquini won the first race, followed by Yvan Muller while Muller was the victor of the second race ahead of Tarquini.
The efficiency of the SEAT drivers, who had already clinched the three top positions of the grid in the qualifying practices, has allowed them to open a gap to their followers with only two races left for the end of the World Championship. SEAT has increased the advantage in the manufacturers’ standings to twenty-one points over BMW, while Tarquini is seven points ahead of his team mate Yvan Muller and eighteen ahead of Augusto Farfus.
Rydell, Gené and Monteiro were not able to step on the podium in Imola. They had to retire due to a multiple incident in the first lap of the first race. In the second, Gené was fifth, Rydell seventh and Monteiro retired.
The development of both races has been similar, with the same protagonists. In the first race, and starting from pole, Tarquini took the leadership, closely followed by Yvan Muller. Both drivers set a strong pace which could not be followed by any of their rivals, allowing the SEAT drivers to keep their positions until the finish. After the retirements of Gené, Monteiro and Rydell, Tom Coronel, at the wheel of the SEAT León TSFI finished in an excellent sixth position, leading the classification of the Independent drivers.
In the second race, Alain Menu (Chevrolet) was the first leader, but Muller and Tarquini had a spectacular recovery moving up to the top two positions after overtaking the six rivals they had ahead of them, due to the inversion of the starting order.
Both SEAT León TDI imposed their pace again, keeping an advantage big enough to secure the second one-two finish of the day. Behind them, Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell have recovered positions from the back of the grid, finishing fifth and seventh respectively, and scoring points for their personal records of the championship.
The next and penultimate meeting of the World Touring Car Championship will be staged at the Japanese racetrack of Okayama on November 1st.
Looking for more? Have a look below.
- WTCC: SEAT dominance in Imola with Tarquini, Muller and Rydell
- WTCC: SEAT keeps the leadership in both World Touring Car Championship standings
- WTCC: SEAT keeps the leadership of the World Touring Car Championship
- WTCC: SEAT keeps the leadership in the Championship
- WTCC: SEAT strengthens their leadership
