WTCC @ MACAU // TARQUINI & SEAT TAKE WORLD TITLE

Italian Gabriele Tarquini became the oldest ever man to capture an FIA World Championship title today at Macau. The 47 year old SEAT driver stayed clear of trouble during the two WTCC races to claim his first drivers title, while manufacturer Seat retained their slender points advantage over BMW to register their second successive crown... [read more]

The hugely experienced and amiable Italian was overjoyed at the end of a shortened race two and said "Maybe this was my last chance to be world champion and I took it. It was a tough season especially against great drivers like Yvan (Muller) and Augusto (Farfus). I became the champion without knowing – the team was smiling and crying but I didn’t have a radio so realised a little bit later. I started the weekend with a crash which is obviously not the best way to win a championship. The mechanics were fantastic and spent all night and one day to re-build the car better than it was before! I must say thank you to the team who are unbelievable.”

With Rob Huff taking a lights to flag victory in race one Tarquini (Above) moved past team-mate Jordi Gene to take second place at the flag effectively eliminating Augusto Farfus in the battle for the drivers championship.
With this in mind Farfus dropped back to take eigth place to take pole for race two hoping to now aid the BMW squad in their manufacturer's fight with Seat.

A rather worse for wear Yvan Muller quite plainly suffering from his qualifying accident came home in 5th place thus keeping his hopes of a second sucsessive crown alive for race two.

Race two saw Farfus and Jorg Muller (Above) record an easy one -two finish for BMW but with Yvan Muller only 3rd Tarquini wrapped up the championship with a solid fith place in a race that was not to go it's full distance due to a large shunt involving Franz Engstler on lap 9. With the race not restarting due to medical crews dealing with Engstler who had broken a collar bone, Seat had done enough and duly recorded their 2nd Manufacturers win.

With the Seat of Tom Coronel collecting the win in the 2009 Independents Trophy all in all Seat can be extremely happy with what effectively has been a tremendous year for them. The spanish squad are however scaling down their WTCC operation for 2010 and may well be just running only pair of Leon's come Curitiba next March.

Race One Top Ten Results:

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Robert Huff Chevrolet 23m02.627s
2. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 7.952s
3. Jordi Gene SEAT 8.996s
4. Alain Menu Chevrolet 10.328s
5. Yvan Muller SEAT 13.534s
6. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 15.517s
7. Jorg Muller BMW 15.782s
8. Augusto Farfus BMW 15.967s
9. Alex Zanardi BMW 16.301s
10. Sergio Hernandez BMW 16.527s

Race Two Top Ten Results:

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Augusto Farfus BMW 22m20.166s
2. Jorg Muller BMW 0.801s
3. Yvan Muller SEAT 1.201s
4. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1.980s
5. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 3.815s
6. Jordi Gene SEAT 5.018s
7. Nicola Larini Chevrolet 5.359s
8. Robert Huff Chevrolet 5.895s
9. Alex Zanardi BMW 6.167s
10. Rickard Rydell SEAT 6.712s


WTCC 2009 Final Drivers Championship Results :

Drivers:

01 Gabriele Tarquini 127
02 Yvan Muller 123
03 Augusto Farfus 113
04 Andy Priaulx 84
05 Robert Huff 80
06 Jörg Müller 76
07 Rickard Rydell 64
08 Jordi Gené 48


WTCC 2009 Final Manafacturers Championship Results :

1. SEAT 314
2. BMW 311
3. CHEVROLET 215
4. LADA 83


Photos: WTCC Media/SEAT Sport
Editorial: Neil Tozer

NEWS // HUFF ON POLE FOR WTCC FINALE IN MACAU

In a dramatic afternoon of WTCC qualifying around the streets of Macau Robb Huff claimed pole position for the final round of the 2009 season.

After a session which ended in near darkness and was dominated by accidents and red flags Huff came through the carnage to take top spot in his Chevrolet Cruze.

The headlines however were created by both Seat title contenders in a freak accident which surely has dented their championship aspirations... [read more]

After easily making it through Q1 both Gacbriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller lost control of their TDI Leon's at faraway ploughing into the barriers and each other after being caught out on a trail of cement dust that had been laid down after a nasty accident in Q1 when James Thompson's Lada (Above) rear ended the stationary BMW (Below) of Stefano D'aste. Both the British driver along with Muller and Tarquini required a trip to hospital for medical checks before all three were released later in the evening. Also skating into the barriers at the same point was Alain Menu with he two being consequently not setting a time.

With both front running Seats eliminated on the spot and requiring major work before Sunday's race it was left to Augusto Farfus the third of the potential champions to stake his claim. Farfus would end the session in third just behind BMW team-mate Andy Priaulx and Huff who both bettered the Brazilian's time on their final laps.

British driver Huff was overjoyed as he spoke to the media, ""I've never in my life experienced a qualifying session like that, the track was dark at the end and you couldn't see anything. It was incredible. I've never done a pole on my third lap before, so it is just fantastic for Chevrolet. I'm really pleased."

With an extra day between qualifying and raceday Seat will be desperately hoping that the cars of Tarquini and Muller (Below) can be repaired to a race ready condition.


WTCC 2009 Final Round Macau Qualifying:

Pos Driver Car Q1 Q2
1. Rob Huff Chevrolet 2m31.282s 2m32.141s
2. Andy Priaulx BMW 2m31.734s 2m32.483s
3. Augusto Farfus BMW 2m31.505s 2m33.033s
4. Jordi Gene SEAT 2m31.171s 2m33.136s
5. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 2m31.357s 2m33.322s
6. Jorg Muller BMW 2m31.724s 2m34.091s
7. Yvan Muller SEAT 2m31.241s no time
8. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 2m31.150s no time
9. Alain Menu Chevrolet 2m31.842s no time
10. Rickard Rydell SEAT 2m31.859s no time


Photo: WTCC Media/SEAT Sport
Editorial: Neil Tozer

VIDEO // TOM CORONEL @ PAU - NSFW

There are few people as animated in the cockpit as Dutch racing driver Tom Coronel. Last season, when the WTCC visited the small French town of Pau, Tom was alive with comments and criticisms throughout the contest. In the videos below, watch as Coronel laps the French street circuit, breathing heavily as he muscles his SEAT racing car through the narrow streets, then enjoy a bit of a remix... [read more]





Photo: Neil Tozer