It was all Seat all weekend
Race 1
SEAT Sport's Yvan Muller, who leads the Driver's Championship, took the first win in Monza from team mate Gabriele Tarquini. Rickard Rydell finished behind them in third to make it a complete SEAT podium.
But the race was not as simple as it sounds. As they all raced over the line for the rolling start. Felix Porteiro made contact with James Thompson, sending the N.technology Honda driver spinning across the track. He collected third position driver Jordi Gene, Alain Menu, Robert Huff, Pierre-Yves Corthals and Stefano D'Aste. Gene, Huff and Corthals escaped relatively cleanly as they slotted back into the race, but Menu fell back to the bottom of the field. D'Aste rejoined after a long pit stop and Porteiro was unable to continue, though he managed to get his damaged car back to the pits for the mechanics to fix for race 2. Thompson was also out of the race, as his car was left stranded in the middle of the racetrack.
Yvan Muller led the race at this point from Tarquini, and Rydell, but further back things were getting interesting. Huff fought with and overtook Alessandro Zanardi over the finish line as the cars completed the first lap, demonstrating the speed potential of the Chevrolet Lacetti. His team mate Nicola Larini, who had a great start getting up to fourth, was being chased by the BMWs of Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx. Farfus managed to find a way past him, only for the Italian to take him back again, and then tried to overtake Rydell, but he was forced backwards as Rydell closed the door. Then Priaulx took Farfus, and it began to look like the Brazilian was having problems with the car. Within a lap he was forced to stop at the end of the pit straight with smoke pouring out of the back of the car.
Half way through the race Tarquini took the lead as he got into Muller's slipstream, but a couple of laps later Tarquini let his team mate back through after Muller got a good slipstream. So Muller finished ahead of Championship rivals Tarquini and Rydell, with Priaulx in fourth and Monteiro, in the SEAT that lost out in qualifying yesterday, behind him in fifth.
Larini finished sixth following an incident with Rydell in the final lap of the race. He tried to pass the SEAT driver, made contact and forced Rydell to cut the chicane. Rydell slowed down to abide by regulations, but Larini suffered damage and began to fall back, finishing just ahead of his team mate. Huff overtook Gene on the final laps to take seventh position, and Gene who lost out in the first corner will start from pole for the second race.
Corthals and Franz Engstler had a good fight for the Independents' Trophy. Corthals struggled on the straights following the first lap incident with Thompson, but was able to beat Engstler into the corners as he finally took the win.
Results
| Pos | Driver | Car | Laps/gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yvan Muller | SEAT Leon TDI | 18:s 16.448 |
| 2 | Gabriele Tarquini | SEAT Leon TDI | 0.277 |
| 3 | Andy Priaulx | BMW 320si | 1.71 |
| 4 | Tiago Monteiro | SEAT Leon TDI | 3.699 |
| 5 | Nicola Larini | Chevrolet Lacetti | 8.111 |
| 6 | Rob Huff | Chevrolet Lacetti | 8.206 |
| 7 | Jordi Gene | SEAT Leon TDI | 8.434 |
| 8 | Alex Zanardi | BMW 320si | 11.056 |
| 9 | Jorg Muller | BMW 320si | 11.547 |
| 10 | Tom Coronel | SEAT Leon TFSI | 14.396 |
| 11 | Alain Menu | Chevrolet Lacetti | 19.722 |
| 12 | Pierre-Yves Corthals | SEAT Leon | 21.114 |
| 13 | Franz Engstler | BMW 320si | 21.722 |
| 14 | Sergio Hernandez | BMW 320si | 24.884 |
| 15 | Manabu Orido | Chevrolet Lacetti | 28.993 |
| 16 | Takayuki Aoki | BMW 320si | 31.499 |
| 17 | Rickard Rydell | SEAT Leon TDI | 0.972 |
| 18 | Andrei Romanov | BMW 320si | 36.751 |
| 19 | Ibrahim Okyay | BMW 320si | 37.459 |
| 20 | George Tanev | BMW 320si | 45.927 |
| 21 | Yukinori Taniguchi | Honda Accord | 47.715 |
| 22 | Kirill Ladygin | Lada 110 | 58.278 |
| 23 | Kristian Poulsen | BMW 320si | +1 lap |
| 24 | Stefano D'Aste | BMW 320si | +2 laps |
| DNF | Augusto Farfus | BMW 320si | 5 laps* |
| DNF | Felix Porteiro | BMW 320si | 3 laps* |
| DNF | Viktor Shapovalov | Lada 110 | 2 laps* |
| DNF | Jaap van Lagen | Lada 110 | 0 laps* |
| DNF | James Thompson | Honda Accord | 0 laps* |
| DNF | Duarte Felix da Costa | SEAT Leon TFSI | 0 laps* |
Chevrolet were able to score points and a podium at Monza
Race 2
With two 1-2 finishes today in Monza, SEAT Sport drivers have claimed a serious stake on both the World Titles. The retirements of Chevrolet's Robert Huff and BMW's Andy Priaulx, the only two serious competitors left, the Drivers' Championship fight looks restricted to Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, who shared victory in Monza.
In the Manufacturers' Championship, the Spanish brand have stretched their lead to 54 points ahead of BMW.
Having finished second in the first race Tarquini helped his Championship chances with a win in the second race. He came up from seventh on the grid with a great start to challenge the leaders on the first lap.
BMW Team Italy-Spain driver Alessandro Zanardi started from pole, and although he got away well, he was immediately challenged by an advancing Jordi Gene. Gene got past him on the first lap and scampered away as Zanardi was swallowed up by the chasing pack. Tarquini, Nicola Larini and Yvan Muller overtook him all in one go as the polesitter eventually fell down to seventh position. Tarquini went after leader Gene, and finally overtook him with a couple of laps to go.
Behind the leading SEAT cars Huff experienced a few problems. He began the race in third but by the end of the first lap had slipped back. Huff overtook the struggling Priaulx, but then began to fall back. He did manage a small recovery, only to tangle with Augusto Farfus and end up on the grass. Following this Huff slowed and limped back to the pits; it has been a bad weekend for him. Priaulx was also forced to end his race in the pits after he went straight at the first chicane in an attempt to overtake Yvan Muller. The pair of British drivers drove slowly round the track to the pit entrance and maybe this is the end of their championship hopes.
Following another good start and a strong race, Larini took the final podium place as he escaped the problems he suffered in the first race. By the end he was even able to find the pace to challenge the leaders. Yvan Muller came up from eighth position to take fourth due to some well judged overtaking manoeuvres. Alain Menu overcame the problems from the last race to finish in fifth position having come up the field from row 6. Tiago Monteiro took sixth place, followed closely by Zanardi whose tyres suffered in the race, which greatly affected his pace. Another BMW driver in trouble was Jorg Muller, whose car had considerable damage at the front which resulted in him losing control and hitting Felix Porteiro who spun and lost positions.
Pierre-Yves Corthals failed to start in the second race, so victory for the Independents' Trophy was a private affair between BMW drivers: Sergio Hernandez, Stefano D'Aste, Kristian Poulsen and Franz Engstler who finished in the order. Young Bulgarian George Tanev finished fifth, his best result so far.
The Championship will resume in Okayama, Japan, for rounds 19 and 20 on Osctober 26th.
RYDELL STRIPPED OF RACE 1 THIRD PLACE
The Stewards stripped Rickard Rydell of the third place he obtained in today's first race. The Swedish driver was given a 30 second time penalty because he cut the first chicane on the last lap after colliding with Nicola Larini's Chevrolet. Rydell slipped down from third to seventeenth. This decision promoted Andy Priaulx to third and Alessandro Zanardi to eighth and pole sitter on the top-eight reverse grid for the second race. The best BMW was Jorg Muller's in fourth (1:56.086) and the best Chevrolet was Robert Huff's in eighth (1:56.439).
TARQUINI GIVEN A 5 PLACE GRID PENALTY AT NEXT RACE
Having watched the TV footage and heard the competitor, the Panel of the Stewards concluded that he gained an advantage with this manoeuvre and decided to impose him a penalty of five grid positions for the first race of the next event in Okayama.
Gabriele Tarquini was under investigation after the second race for cutting the first chicane after the start and failing to give back the advantage.
Having watched the TV footage and heard the competitor, the Panel of the Stewards concluded that he gained an advantage with this manoeuvre and decided to impose him a penalty of five grid positions for the first race of the next event in Okayama.
The decision in this case was different from the one taken against Rickard Rydell for a similar infringement during the first race, when the Swedish driver was given a 30-second penalty.
In the case of Tarquini, the Stewards took into consideration the special circumstances of the confusion surrounding what happened at the first corner, which made it difficult for the driver to understand which position he should rejoin not to gain the advantage.
Results
| Pos | Driver | Car | Laps/gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Tarquini | SEAT Leon TDI | 18:s 18.397 |
| 2 | Jordi Gene | SEAT Leon TDI | 0.316 |
| 3 | Nicola Larini | Chevrolet Lacetti | 0.646 |
| 4 | Yvan Muller | SEAT Leon TDI | 2.78 |
| 5 | Alain Menu | Chevrolet Lacetti | 3.056 |
| 6 | Tiago Monteiro | SEAT Leon TDI | 8.231 |
| 7 | Alex Zanardi | BMW 320si | 9.522 |
| 8 | Augusto Farfus | BMW 320si | 11.901 |
| 9 | Rickard Rydell | SEAT Leon TDI | 12.639 |
| 10 | Jorg Muller | BMW 320si | 13.456 |
| 11 | James Thompson | Honda Accord | 14.662 |
| 12 | Felix Porteiro | BMW 320si | 14.779 |
| 13 | Sergio Hernandez | BMW 320si | 15.621 |
| 14 | Stefano D'Aste | BMW 320si | 16.121 |
| 15 | Kristian Poulsen | BMW 320si | 24.517 |
| 16 | Franz Engstler | BMW 320si | 24.949 |
| 17 | Manabu Orido | Chevrolet Lacetti | 31.444 |
| 18 | George Tanev | BMW 320si | 35.754 |
| 19 | Jaap van Lagen | Lada 110 | 35.953 |
| 20 | Duarte Felix da Costa | SEAT Leon TFSI | 43.753 |
| 21 | Ibrahim Okyay | BMW 320si | 44.083 |
| 22 | Viktor Shapovalov | Lada 110 | 45.16 |
| 23 | Kirill Ladygin | Lada 110 | 47.874 |
| 24 | Tom Coronel | SEAT Leon TFSI | +1 lap |
| 25 | Andy Priaulx | BMW 320si | +2 laps |
| 26 | Rob Huff | Chevrolet Lacetti | +2 laps |
| DNF | Yukinori Taniguchi | Honda Accord | 5 laps* |
| DNF | Andrei Romanov | BMW 320si | 2 laps* |
| DNF | Takayuki Aoki | BMW 320si | 2 laps* |
| DNF | Pierre-Yves Corthals | SEAT Leon | 0 laps* |