Muller scored solid points in Valencia
Seat
Chevrolet
BMW
Honda
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Seat
SEAT strengthens the WTCC leadership
SEAT has achieved a brilliant result in both of the WTCC races staged in Valencia with two podium finishes and five scoring finishes. Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gené were second and third in the first race, whilst Yvan Muller and Rickard Rydell achieved places among the top eight, thus allowing SEAT to strengthen their leadership both in the drivers’ and constructors’ championship standings.
Race 1
An excellent start allowed Jordi Gené taking the lead of the first race ahead of Tarquini and Muller, meaning three SEAT León TDI on top spots. However, none of them was able to keep up with Robert Huff, who had a much lighter car and no problems to climb up positions and to take over the lead. Gabriele Tarquini made good use of Huff’s manoeuvre to put himself on second, but couldn’t stop the Briton from opening a big gap.
From that moment, the SEAT drivers fought hard to keep their positions and to maintain a very important result to maintain the aim of scoring points for the championship. Gené and Muller had a hard race standing the attacks of Jorg Müller (BMW) and Nicola Larini (Chevrolet), but they both achieved their objectives.
Rickard Rydell was the victim of an off-track by Farfus which set him back several positions. He started to remount and made it to place 10, ahead of Tiago Monteiro and behind Tom Coronel, who managed once again to be among the top ten with his SEAT León WTCC. José Manuel Pérez Aicart was 14th in his first race in the WTCC.
Race 2
With the top eight positions in reverse order, BMW and Chevrolet were those who fought for the victory. Meanwhile, the SEAT drivers defended their options to finish among the scorers, with Muller and Gené in fifth and second position. However, an incident with Farfus set Muller back, while Tarquini was able to move up to fifth ahead of Gené, Rydell and the French driver.
Tiago Monteiro was the only one not able to cross the finish line after a hit that forced him to retire, and despite Tarquini opening a gap to his make-mates, he was not able to close the gap to the front drivers finishing the race in fifth place and lapping the last part of the race in formation ahead of his mates to finally score important points for the championship.
Statements
Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León TDI no. 11), 2nd/5th: “Positive day for us. We’ve scored points in both races achieving a podium finish. I was only sorry for not being able to win at home, but you can’t win always. Our cars were very heavy and our rivals were driving much lighter. There was nothing more we could do”.
Jordi Gené (SEAT León TDI no. 9), 3rd/6th: “It’s been a positive weekend. I wanted to get on the podium in Valencia and I made it. I will also be able to take off some ballast for the next race, even if it’s only symbolic. I’m getting closer to my team-mates in the fight for the championship and SEAT has scored more points than anyone else. There’s nothing else I could ask for”.
Yvan Muller: (SEAT León TDI no. 12), 4th/8th: “I don’t know what to say. It’s been a bad day because I haven’t been able to make use of the advantage of starting from pole”.
Rickard Rydell (SEAT León TDI no.), 10th/7th: “It’s been a good weekend for SEAT, scoring additional points for the constructors’ world championship, but I’m disappointed with my performance since I’ve only be able to score two points. I’ve started from tenth in both races and to tell you the truth, I couldn't do better than seventh in the second”.
Tiago Monteiro (SEAT León TDI no. 18), 11th/DNF: “It’s been frustrating. We knew that it would be a difficult weekend but we could not imagine that we would have so many problems. The qualifying went bad and we didn’t have any chances during the race because of the incidents. The positive side is that we’ll be able to take off ballast, not much, but it’ll be good for the next race in a circuit I like a lot”.
Jaime Puig, SEAT Sport Director: “It’s been a positive weekend for SEAT. This is the way to assess it because we’ve achieved two podium finishes despite carrying a lot of ballast, we have increased our advantage in the constructors’ world championship and we keep the leadership in the drivers’ overall standings”
Chevrolet
VALENCIA - Rob Huff scored his and Chevrolet's first win of the year in Valencia today, a feat repeated later in the day by team mate Alain Menu in the second race. The British driver had started from the second row on the grid and used the superior handling of his Chevrolet Lacetti to pick off the front runners one by one. After a few laps he moved into the lead never to be headed again. Alain Menu, who had started last of the qualified drivers, drove a stellar first race which saw him finish in eighth, good for pole position in the second race. In that second race he took the lead on lap 2 and scored his first win of the year, followed home by Rob Huff who had cut through the field from eighth to second. Nicola Larini had an unlucky weekend and finished in sixth and ninth. Chevrolet now moves up to second place in the manufacturers' championship, while Huff is first of the Chevrolet drivers in seventh.
Rob Huff (1st/2nd): "I had a good start in race 1 and immediately got ahead of the SEATs halfway down the straight. But then the diesels just towed past me again before the first corner, so I had to be content with fourth for a while. I was already pleased that I had made it through the first corner because in the previous three seasons my race had always ended right there. Yvan then ran wide in one corner which allowed me to get past him, then Jordi ran wide as well and both Gabriele and I slipped through. I then managed to pass Gabriele on lap 5 and stayed in control until the end. In the second race I could confirm the strength and speed of the Chevrolet Lacetti and bagged 18 points in one day. The Chevrolets had been on the pace all weekend, although it of course helped us to run light here. Today's victories are very much the result of the hard work the team has put in since we're back from Mexico."
Alain Menu (8th/1st): "I had a good first race and managed to profit from the many incidents ahead of me. The whole race some of the driving of the others was really on the limit and on a few occasions I nearly went off. I was lucky when Thompson closed the door on me but it was a little bit too late: I was through. I then passed Zanardi for eighth on the straight but he just pushed me onto the grass, nearly causing me to spin at to speed. I think this time he really exaggerated in his maneuvers as this was extremely dangerous at the speed we were doing. But I did get by him a few corners later, which put me on pole position for race 2. In the second race I knew I'd get passed by Andy at the start, but after the first lap I slowly started to reel him in to the point where I could pass him on lap 2. From then on it was just a matter of keeping the car on the black stuff."
Nicola Larini (6th/9th): "I had a brilliant start in race 1, moving up from 10th to sixth immediately. I had a good pace at the beginning but I waited too long to make any moves as I was sure something would happen between the cars fighting in front of me. After I had overtaken Muller I got some understeer, so he managed to pass me again. In the second race I just drove like an old man, but the good thing there is that I will be very light at the next race in Pau."
Ray Mallock: "It's fantastic to get our season underway at last. The fly-away events didn't reflect the true potential of the Chevrolet Lacetti, but today's races did. Hopefully we can build on this success and see more of it this season."
BMW made the podium in Valencia
BMW
World champion Priaulx scores podium finish for BMW in Valencia.
Valencia, 18th May 2008. Andy Priaulx (GB) of BMW Team UK claimed his second podium result in this year's FIA World Touring Car Championship. At Valencia's "Circuit de la Comunitat" he finished third in the sixth round of the season. In the first race of the day the reigning World Champion finished seventh. BMW Team Germany driver Jorg Muller (DE) also collected points at what was the series' maiden event on European soil in 2008. His team-mate Augusto Farfus (BR) and BMW Team Italy- Spain's Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Felix Porteiro (ES), however, failed to make it into the top-eight in either race. Victory in the two sprint races at the 4.005-kilometre track went to Chevrolet's Robert Huff (GB) and Alain Menu (CH).
In the Drivers' Championship, Priaulx now has 22 points under his belt and ranks fifth as the best-placed BMW driver. Muller follows in sixth with 20 points. With a points tally of 59, BMW currently lies in third place in the manufacturers' classification.
Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
"All in all a good weekend for me. The whole of race one was a really big scrap for me. But I come here to win races and championships and I think I got the best out of the weekend I could possibly expect. My target was seven points, so to get one more than I thought I was able to get was great."
Jorg Muller (BMW Team Germany):
"My fastest lap in race one shows how competitive my car was today. Probably I could have gone even faster, but it's just really difficult to overtake these SEAT diesels. In the second race I made a good start, but later had to let Robert Huff pass. But the most important fact is I scored solid points after the Puebla wash-out."
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
"I just want to leave this weekend behind me as quickly as possible. We had a fantastic package, the performance was great, but I'm still leaving Valencia empty- handed. My chase in race two turned out to be in vain."
Felix Porteiro (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
"I certainly had different hopes for my home event in Spain. At the beginning of the first race I was hit by another car and a wheel-rim broke. Pit stops cost a lot of time in WTCC, so I had to bid farewell to my ambition to score points. At least I was able to entertain the fans with lots of overtaking manoeuvres in race two."
Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
"I might leave Valencia without any points under my belt, but I go home with some positive feedback. We have a good race performance, and I only need to be more consistent in qualifying. Today I just suffered another dose of bad luck."
Honda
N.TECHNOLOGY DENIED POINTS FINISH
N.Technology was denied a likely points finish on the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) debut of the Honda Accord Euro R Super 2000, developed together with JAS Motorsport, at Valencia after James Thompson's impressive weekend was ruined by contact with other drivers together with the fact that Honda was given no weight compensation.
Despite the car only having completed five days testing before its first race, Thompson got a great start from 11th on the grid to eight position, then won seventh position from BMW's Andy Priaulx after a daring overtaking manoeuvre at the end of lap one.
Thompson defended the position superbly for over half the race until Priaulx forced past the N.Technology car on lap eight. He was then hit by Tiago Monteiro, who was later penalised for the contact, which pushed Thompson down to 12th place.
Thompson was classified 11th after Monteiro was given a 30-second penalty for the incident, meaning that he started the second race from the sixth row. From 11th on the grid, Thompson held position throughout the second race despite again being hit by rival competitors.
James Thompson, car number 15
"When I was hit by Andy it just wasn't an overtaking place and it was the same with Tiago. It's frustrating because the first laps went really well and I was up to seventh. It would be a fantastic reward for all the effort the team has put in on this car to have started the second race from the front row and have a chance to fight for the podium.
"I had to defend a lot in the first part of the race but I was holding onto the position, it's just a shame that we lost out not because of any mistake on my part but because of what other drivers were doing.
"From 11th on the grid in the second race it was always going to be a big ask to get make much progress. Yet again my fellow competitors used my race car as their braking point and I was hit several times during the race, Valencia was not a good weekend for us."
Mauro Sipsz, Team principal
"For me racing is about winning as we have done many many times before. Our debut has been handicapped due to our weight. Our competitors today have enjoyed racing with weight dispensations, unlike us. The weight issue, has negative consequences in many different areas and obviously effects our overall performance.
"This weekend it was never a realistic possibility to have success based on the fact that we had no weight reduction unlike our racing colleagues. I hope that authorities will take the appropriate action so N.Technology can show case its hard work, and the true potential of the Honda Accord Euro R Super 2000."