After the two victories at the Mexican circuit of Puebla last night, in the second round of the WTCC, SEAT & Repsol dominate the two classifications – driver and manufacturer. Rickard Rydell & Yvan Muller in their SEAT León TDIs both won convincingly and now share the lead in the World Championship. The two kept the constant attacks from Augusto Farfus & Andy Priaulx in their BMWs at bay.
Gabriele Tarquini finished 6th and 8th whilst Tiago Monteiro did not win any points after going off the track and having a puncture. Jordi Gené finished both races in 7th position in spite of developing a problem with the transmission halfway through the first race. Ths part was substituted before the start of the second race but the problem appeared again ruining Gené`s chances of a getting good result.
1st RACE
In spite of not repeating the pole position they got in Brazil the Repsol drivers demonstrated that their competitiveness is still intact. Rydell dominated the race and with Yvan Muller (5th), Gabriele Tarquini (6th) and Jordi Gené (7th) they were all among the points. Before the end of the first lap Rydell was alrerady in charge and repelling the attacks made by Farfus.
Further back Tarquini hit Priaulx slightly, this allowed the British driver and his teammate, Yvan Muller, to get past him. Jordi Gené had a good race where he got better as the race went on. After getting involved in an incident on the first lap he fell down the field and was obliged to fight back, in the end he was 7th.
2nd RACE
Jordi Gené took control at the start and stayed in the lead until halfway through the race when he was overtaken by Yvan Muller who was under attack from Andy Priaulx (BMW) a driver who also managed to get past Gené in the same manoeuvre. Muller was able to keep his rival at bay until the finishing line but could not get away from him or get any help from Rydell. The latter was in the end 3rd after a great fight back and breathing down Priaulx`s neck on the last few laps. Further behind these three was Tarquini who hit another car and went off the track, he finished behind Gené who on the final laps could not keep up with the pace set by the leaders.
Yvan Muller
“This was a perfect weekend. Practice was difficult though but the team did a great job and we were able to compete at a very high level. Fourth place in the first race was a good result, but I did not expect that I would be able to win the second. The pressure put on me by Priaulx was constant and in that situation I just concentrated on not making any mistakes. Everything worked perfectly”.
Rickard Rydell
“I am really pleased with these results, and not just for myself for the team too which has got some very valuable points. I think that all of us have done a great job, even overcoming the handicap of the BMWs starting ahead of us on the grid in the first race. Personally it is fantastic to have got on the podium twice and to win my first ever race”.
