The first two races of the season in the WTCC 2009 brought some great results for the SEAT Repsol team. Four of the five León TDI decorated in the colours of the Spanish oil company occupied the first four places in the two rounds held at the Circuit of Curitiba, beating all the team`s rivals in both the wet and the dry. This spectacular result, one of the best in the history of the WTCC, places SEAT and its drivers Yvan Muller & Gabriele Tarquini, the winners today, at the top of the provisional leaderboard with a one point gap separating them from Jordi Gené & Rickard Rydell who were also on the podium.
In the first race the Repsol drivers Yvan Muller, Jordi Gené, Rickard Rydell & Gabriele Tarquini worked their way into the first four positions from the start, with Tiago Monteiro in sixth place, fighting with BMW and Chevrolet cars. An accident halfway through the race meant that the Safety Car had to come out but this did not stop the four SEAT León TDIs from completely dominating the the race when it restarted and they stayed there until the were given the chequered flag.
In the second race rain played a big role in the outcome as the track was flooded just after it started and all the cars began behind the Safety Car. Gabriele Tarquini & Rickard Rydell quickly moved up into the reckoning early on and were soon the two front cars. At the same time Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller did the same a little further back and halfway through the race were just behind their teammates. When the four Repsol drivers found themselves in the lead they stayed there until the race ended. Tiago Monteiro moved up to 12th position after a penalty was given to him in the first race for overtaking a few seconds before the race was restarted when the Safety Car was out.
The next race in the WTCC is in the Mexican city of Puebla on 21st – 22nd March.
Yvan Muller
“The weekend has been very positive, above all because we were much faster than we thought we would be. The four Repsol drivers are at the top of the leaderboard and that is something good, but the season is very long”.
Gabriele Tarquini
“What happened was fantastic, because getting the four cars into the first four positions in the two races was something we could not have imagined. This is an exceptional result. It is possible that the rain helped us in the second race, but our performance has been very good”.
Rickard Rydell
“What happened was incredible because we thought that the BMWs would be faster than us. The good work in classification by the whole team and the good racing conditions, including the rain in the second race, were the key factors”.
Jordi Gené
“I came to Brazil with the idea of getting between six and eight points and I am going home with 14. Therefore the result could not be any better and the two podium finishes allow me to leave Curitiba very pleased. This is what I had dreamt of before the season started. I hope that in the next few races, like the one in Mexico where I won last year, are good for us. It is clear that the Seat Repsol Team has five drivers capable of fighting to win the WTCC again”.
