SEAT managed brilliant results in the two WTCC races held today in Valencia, taking two podiums and five positions within the points range. Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gené finished the first race in second and third position, while Yvan Muller and Rickard Rydell held places among the eight first drivers, giving SEAT a solid lead both in the rider and constructor classification.
FIRST RACE
An excellent start allowed Jordi Gené to lead the first race ahead of Tarquini and Muller, placing three SEAT León TDI’s at the head of the race. However, none of them were able to withstand Robert Huff, who with a much lighter car had no problems in climbing positions until he reached first place. Gabriele Tarquini took the chance to place himself behind Huff in second position, but could not prevent the Englishman from escaping.
From that moment on in the race, the SEAT drivers fought to maintain their positions and to secure an important result in order meet the objective of scoring points for the championship. Gené and Muller had a tough race keeping Jorg Müller (BMW) and Nicola Larini at bay, but both reached their objectives.
Rickard Rydell suffered the consequences when Farfus ran off the track, losing a number of positions and staging a comeback which took him to tenth position, right in front of Tiago Monteiro and behind Tom Coronel.
SECOND RACE
With the first eight positions on the grid in reverse order, the BMW’s and the Chevrolet’s were the ones struggling for the victory. The SEAT drivers defended their options of scoring points, first with Muller and Gené in fifth and sixth position. An incident with Farfus held Muller back, while Tarquini climbed to fifth position ahead of Gené, Rydell and the French driver.
Tiago Monteiro was the only driver who did not reach the finish line after a brush which finally forced him to withdraw, and though Tarquini escaped ahead of his teammates, he was unable to reduce the distance with those ahead of him, finishing the race in fifth position and leading his three teammates, who completed the last laps in formation, to try and score important points for the championship.
Gabriele Tarquini, 2nd and 5th
“A positive day for us. We scored points in both races, taking a podium position. I’m just sad that we didn’t win one of the races at home, but you can’t always win. Our cars were very heavy and our rivals were travelling very light. We did our best.”
Jordi Gené, 3rd and 6th
“The weekend was positive. I wanted to take a podium position in Valencia and I made it. What’s more, I’ve lifted some weight, if only simbolically, facing the next race. I’m closer to my teammates in the struggle for the Championship and SEAT has the most points. You can’t ask for more.”
Yvan Muller, 4th and 8th
“I don’t know what to say. It was a bad day, because I was unable of taking advantage of my pole position at any moment.”
Rickard Rydell, 10th and 7th
“It was a good weekend for SEAT, scoring more points for the championship in the constructor’s category, but I’m dissapointed with my own performance, because I only managed to score two points. I started out in tenth position in both races, and the best I could do was a seventh position in the second race.”
Tiago Monteiro, 11th and withdrawal
“It was frustrating. We knew it was going to be a tough weekend, but we didn’t imagine we’d have so many problems. The qualification went very bad and we didn’t get any opportunities during the race due to the incidents. The positive side is that they’re lifting off some weight, not much, for the next race, on a circuit I like a lot.”
