2009 WTCC : Spectacular double 1-2-3-4 for SEAT in Brazil

Podium 1ª carrera. Jordi Gené - Yvan Muller - Gabriele Tarquini

CURITIBA, Brasil : March 08, 2009 - SEAT Sport achieved an extraordinary result in both of the opening races of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship, placing four León TDI on the top four positions of both races held at the Curitiba racetrack and beating all their rivals both on dry and wet track. This spectacular result, one of the best results achieved by the make in the history of the WTCC, places SEAT and their drivers Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini - winners of today’s races - on the top of the overall standings, though with only one point of advantage over Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell, who stepped on the podium today as well.


First race

From the start, the four SEAT León TDI of Yvan Muller, Jordi Gené, Rickard Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini took the top four positions with Tiago Monteiro in sixth, fighting with the BMW and Chevrolet. An accident halfway the race led to the deployment of the Safety Car but this was no hindrance for the four SEAT León TDI to keep their dominance at the restart and continue like that until the chequered flag.

Second race

The rain flooded the track and the second race had to start behind the Safety Car. Soon after the start Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell moved up quickly and a few laps later they were already on the top two positions. Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller did the same further in the back and were right behind their team-mates before mid-race. Once on the four top positions, the SEAT drivers kept them until the end of the race.

Tom Coronel managed to finish eight, scoring one point at the wheel of his SEAT León WTCC of the Sunred team, while Tiago Monteiro managed to move up to twelfth after starting from the back due to a penalty imposed on him after the first race for overtaking before the restart.

Main figures

Yvan Muller: (SEAT León TDI): “It’s been a very positive weekend, especially because we have been much faster than expected. There are four of us SEAT drivers leading the overall standings and that's good, but it's a long season".

Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León TDI): “What happened is fantastic since placing four cars on the top positions of both races was inconceivable. It’s an exceptional result. The rain possibly helped us in the second race, but our performance today has been very good”.

Rickard Rydell (SEAT León TDI): “What happened is incredible because we thought that the BMW would be faster than us. The good qualifying job of the whole team and the good conditions, rain of the second race included, were the key".

Jordi Gené (SEAT León TDI): “I came to Brazil thinking to score six and six points and I’m leaving with fourteen. Therefore it is a superb result and both podiums make me leave Curitiba in high spirits. It’s what I had dreamed of before the start of the season. I hope that the next races, such as Mexico, were I won last year, will be favourable. It seems obvious that SEAT has five drivers who are able to fight again for the championship”.

Driver's Championship
Pos.	Driver - Nationality	Team - Machine	Point
1.	Gabriele Tarquini - Italy	SEAT Sport - Seat León 2.0 TDI	15
2.	Yvan Muller - France	SEAT Sport - Seat León 2.0 TDI	15
3.	Rickard Rydell - Sweden	SEAT Sport - Seat León 2.0 TDI	14
4.	Jordi Gené Guerrero - Spain	SEAT Sport - Seat León 2.0 TDI	14
5.	Augusto Farfus - Brasil	BMW Team Germany - BMW 320si	7
6.	Jörg Müller - Germany	BMW Team Germany - BMW 320si	4
7.	Sergio Hernández - Spain	BMW Team Italy-Spain - BMW 320 si	3
8.	Félix Porteiro - Spain	Scuderia Proteam Motorsport - BMW 320 si	3
9.	Andy Priaulx - England	BMW Team UK - BMW 320 si	2
10.	Tom Coronel - Netherland	SUNRED Engineering - Seat León 2.0 TFSI	1

Manufacturer's Champion
Pos.	Brand	Point
1.	SEAT	36
2.	BMW	22
3.	LADA	10
4.	CHEVROLET	9

Images : 2009 WTCC R.1-2 : Curitiba, Brasil

[Source : WTCC-Official, SEAT, BMW]