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 this 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.
The championship will resume for rounds 13 and 14 at Brands Hatch, England, on July 27th.
D’ASTE PUNISHED AFTER RACE 1
Stefano D’Aste was given a 30-second time penalty in the first race.
The Stewards judged him guilty for the collision he had with Franz Engstler that sent the German driver into a spin.
D’Aste, who had finished second in the Independents’ Trophy race, was demoted to seventh and lost the leadership of the classification in favour of his own team-mate Sergio Hernández.
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