Rydell took his first WTCC win and helped Seat to a great weekend
RACE 1
Rickard Rydell led from the first corner in his SEAT León TDI to win the first race in Estoril, which was also his first victory of the season.
The start was extremely competitive as the front four drivers all fought for the lead. Rydell kept a cool head as he found he had the pace over pole sitter Chevrolet’s Nicola Larini into the first corner. Robert Huff came up the outside to challenge for second position but made contact with Jordi Gené’s SEAT, which pushed the Chevrolet driver down to sixth.
Further back BMW Team Germany driver Augusto Farfus had a collision with his team-mate Jörg Müller, and then was punted by another car and spun, retiring soon afterwards. Championship leader Gabriele Tarquini was also involved in a collision and rejoined at the back of the field, finishing for the first time out of the points.
With a brilliant start Yvan Muller came up from eighth position on the grid to pop into second position at the end of the second lap, with Larini behind him. However, Larini found the pace he was missing at the start and overtook the SEAT driver for second position and began to chase the leader Rydell. The latter made his car very wide and the Italian was unable to pass him, finishing just behind in second.
Yvan Muller took third position, ahead of a chasing Huff who overtook Andy Priaulx and Gené. The Spaniard took fifth place, with Priaulx just behind him, and local hero Tiago Monteiro in seventh place. Félix Porteiro collected the last point and will start from pole on the reverse grid for race two.
Alain Menu, who was sent to the back of the grid for a technical breach, climbed up to eleventh, after several overtaking moves throughout the race.
Further down the field were more incidents to thrill the crowd as Independents' leader Sergio Hernández was involved in a collision early on in the race. His bonnet was damaged, and the stewards showed the black/orange to him, ordering him into the pits. Moments after returning to the track his bonnet flew up and he was forced to retire from the race. Stefano D'Aste also encountered problems and collided with Franz Engstler causing the latter to spin and lose positions. Olivier Tielemans was forced to retire with an exhaust fire during the race, and Jaap van Lagen limped to the end of the race with a sick sounding engine but managed to collect the first points for the LADA team. Pierre-Yves Corthals picked up the pieces to take his first Independent win since Puebla.
Results
1. Rickard Rydell SEAT Leon TDI 12 laps
2. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Lacetti +0.816
3. Yvan Muller SEAT Leon TDI +8.160
4. Rob Huff Chevrolet Lacetti +10.681
5. Jordi Gene SEAT Leon TDI +12.316
6. Andy Priaulx BMW 320si +12.605
7. Tiago Monteiro SEAT Leon TDI +13.222
8. Felix Porteiro BMW 320si +13.662
9. Jorg Muller BMW 320si +13.847
10. Tom Coronel SEAT Leon TFSI +14.866
11. Alain Menu Chevrolet Lacetti +16.611
12. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT Leon +22.834
13. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Leon TDI +24.956
14. Stefano D'Aste BMW 320si +36.335
15. Kristian Poulsen BMW 320si +38.911
16. Jaap van Lagen Lada 110 +39.114
17. Andrey Romanov BMW 320si +39.925
18. Ibrahim Okyay BMW 320si +50.265
19. Franz Engstler BMW 320si +59.521
20. Alex Zanardi BMW 320si +1:35.186
DNF Sergio Hernandez BMW 320si 8 laps*
DNF Augusto Farfus BMW 320si 2 laps*
DNF Olivier Tielemans BMW 320si 1 lap*
DNF Viktor Shapovalov Lada 110 1 lap*
DNF Tom Boardman SEAT Leon TFSI 0 laps*
DNS James Thompson Honda Accord
Farfus and Zanardi struggled in race 2
RACE 2
SEAT Sport’s Tiago Monteiro took the chequered flag in front of his cheering fans at the second race in Portugal. Having started second on the grid he fought for the lead on the first lap, going side by side with pole sitter Félix Porteiro in the BMW.
The two drivers ran locked together for a few corners before the Portuguese driver took the lead for good.
Yvan Muller took second place after driving another fantastic race to come up from sixth position to finish just behind the leader to give SEAT another strong finish, and close the Drivers' championship right up. On his way to second Muller made several daring overtaking moves to take his tally to fourteen points for the weekend.
Reigning world champion BMW Team UK's Andy Priaulx took third position just behind Muller as he chased him over the line. He had an eventful race, fighting for positions with Jordi Gené, and then overtook Porteiro in the final laps. He finished ahead of Porteiro who settled for fourth after letting Muller and Priaulx through.
Chevrolet's Robert Huff also had a battle with Gené throughout the early parts of the race. Nicola Larini also overtook Gené to take sixth position after moving ahead of Jörg Müller who finished in seventh. Winner of the first race, Rickard Rydell finished in eighth, with Gené directly behind him.
Augusto Farfus had to start the race from row ten following his exit from the first race. He forced his way up to finish tenth, ahead of championship leader Gabriele Tarquini in the SEAT, who did not score in either race for the first time in the current season.
In the Independents' Trophy Sergio Hernández finished the weekend on a high after the disaster of the first race. He battled past Stefano D'Aste to take the win and extend his lead in the championship. Newcomer Tom Boardman obtained third position in the SUNRED SEAT.
The championship is extremely close now as Tarquini leads from Yvan Muller, but only by a single point. Andy Priaulx is looking for a win going on to his home race in Brands Hatch as is only five points behind Rydell who is third with a ten point gap.
Results
1. Tiago Monteiro SEAT Leon TDI 12 laps
2. Yvan Muller SEAT Leon TDI +2.635
3. Andy Priaulx BMW 320si +2.921
4. Felix Porteiro BMW 320si +3.578
5. Rob Huff Chevrolet Lacetti +4.028
6. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Lacetti +4.466
7. Jorg Muller BMW 320si +6.242
8. Rickard Rydell SEAT Leon TDI +7.495
9. Jordi Gene SEAT Leon TDI +9.833
10. Augusto Farfus BMW 320si +10.042
11. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Leon TDI +11.130
12. Tom Coronel SEAT Leon TFSI +12.848
13. Alex Zanardi BMW 320si +15.007
14. Alain Menu Chevrolet Lacetti +15.154
15. Sergio Hernandez BMW 320si +16.043
16. Stefano D'Aste BMW 320si +18.126
17. Tom Boardman SEAT Leon TFSI +22.318
18. Franz Engstler BMW 320si +23.096
19. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT Leon +24.048
20. Andrey Romanov BMW 320si +32.211
21. Jaap van Lagen Lada 110 +32.554
22. Kristian Poulsen BMW 320si +37.856
23. Ibrahim Okyay BMW 320si +42.899
24. Viktor Shapovalov Lada 110 +45.867
DNS Olivier Tielemans BMW 320si
DNS James Thompson Honda Accord