Well it wasn’t a superb weekend for the SEAT boys as BMW took both race 1 and 2. SEAT did well with 5/Top10 in Race 1 and 4/Top10 in Race 2.
Race 1:
After the rolling start Andy Priaulx promoted himself above Augusto Farfus and the top three remained the same.
The first corner proved catastrophic for Alfa Romeo as both drivers – James Thompson and Olivier Tielemans – were caught up in a collision also claiming Nicola Larini, Alain Menu and Luca Rangoni as casualties.
The only car involved that continued was Pierre-Yves Corthals’, which went on to win the independent category. Due to this incident the safety car was deployed for three laps and the Stewards summoned Larini and Yvan Muller to investigate on the happening.
On the restart Müller got a clean break. Farfus came close to Priaulx at several moments but was never able to mount a challenge. Behind the leading pack Gabriele Tarquini crossed the line fourth for SEAT Sport followed by Rob Huff; the only Chevrolet left in the race. Tom Coronel was on the tail of the Briton but eventually crossed the line seventh.
The front row for the standing start of Race 2 will be compiled of Yvan Muller on pole and Alex Zanardi right beside.
Felix Porteiro was set to line up in front of the pack as he was lying eighth for the majority of the race. However an error at Curva da Vitória on lap 12 left him out of the race and in the gravel.
In a similar incident, Emmet O’Brien, who was leading the independent category left braking too late at Pinheirinho and rejoined 13th which equated to third independent behind Corthals and Stefano D’Aste.
Race 2:
Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller worked their way through the field from 7th and 8th on the grid to complete the second all-BMW podium of the day. All three drivers now lead the championship with 16 points a piece.
Due to the neutralisation of parc fermé Nicola Larini, Luca Rangoni, Alain Menu, James Thompson and Olivier Tielemans began from the back of the grid, their cars repaired after being involved in the pile up at the start of the first race.
Yvan Muller got a fantastic start from pole position and headed the field into the first corner. Moments later Robert Huff tried to make the turn on the inside of Zanardi but there was no room and his Chevrolet skidded across the track, narrowly avoiding several cars. Consequently Zanardi fell from 2nd to 5th; he eventually crossed the line 6th.
Farfus’ path to glory began when he promoted himself from 6th to 2nd off the start. At turn one of lap three he overtook Muller for the lead which he didn’t let go.
At this point Priaulx and Müller were 5th and 6th respectively but by lap eleven they had passed the SEAT cars of Muller, Tarquini and Coronel on their way to the podium.
Turn one was the location for all the attacks. The three SEAT drivers finished in the top ten; Muller 4th followed directly by Tarquini with Coronel claiming 8th place and the final point.
Luca Rangoni of Proteam Motorsport passed the chequered flag 7th claiming the independent win and also two points for the overall classification.
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