2009 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico

Mexico  2009 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico
Round details
Round 2 of 12 in the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season at Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, Mexico.
Date 22 March, 2009
Location Puebla, Mexico
Course Autódromo Miguel E. Abed
3.363 km
Race One
Laps 16
Pole position
Driver Brazil Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany
Time 1:37.981
Podium
First Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport
Second Brazil Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany
Third United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Fastest Lap
Driver United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Time 1:38.076
Race Two
Laps 16
Podium
First France Yvan Muller SEAT Sport
Second United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Third Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport
Fastest Lap
Driver Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany
Time 1:38.287

The 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico (formally the 2009 FIA WTCC HSBC Race of Mexico) was the second round of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held on 22 March 2009 at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed near Puebla, Mexico. It was the fourth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Mexico.

The two races were won by SEAT Sport's Rickard Rydell and Yvan Muller.

Background

After the first round of the year in Brazil, defending champion Yvan Muller was tied on points with SEAT Sport teammate Gabriele Tarquini at the top of the drivers' championship. Scuderia Proteam Motorsport's Félix Porteiro was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Report

Testing and free practice

The test session on Friday saw joint championship leader Yvan Muller go fastest. BMW drivers Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx set the pace early on before SEAT drivers Rickard Rydell and Tarquini went quicker. With a minute before the end of the session, Muller set the fastest time. Porteiro was the fastest independent driver in sixth while none of the Chevrolet drivers got into the top ten with Nicola Larini the fastest of the trio in twelfth.[1]

Rydell led the opening free practice session on Saturday morning, the first of a SEAT 1–2–3–4. Farfus was the fastest BMW in fifth and Larini was the fastest Chevrolet down in thirteenth. Robert Huff was unable to set a time due to an oil leak on his Chevrolet Cruze.[2]

The second free practice session saw Rydell go quickest once again. The BMWs of Farfus and Jörg Müller were second and third ahead of the SEAT Sport pair of Yvan Muller and Tarquini. The final two factory SEATs were Tiago Monteiro and Jordi Gené were eighth and thirteenth respectively.[3]

Qualifying

Augusto Farfus, Andy Priaulx and BMW pushed to the limit and interrupted SEAT’s domination that lasted since the test session in Curitiba. Farfus won pole position, posting the fastest time of the session with a lap of 1:37.981, the first driver to break the 1:38 wall so far. He beat Priaulx by only 0.045 seconds, while Gabriele Tarquini saved SEAT’s honour claiming third position with a one-tenth gap. BMW and SEAT cars equally shared the ten positions giving access to Q2. Although they sat in the pits until halfway through the session, all five SEAT Sport drivers managed to make the top-ten, with Gabriele Tarquini in second with a gap of 0.065 seconds after having clocked a provisional fastest lap at 1:38.047.

Félix Porteiro topped the Independents again and also managed to advance to Q2 setting the 10th fastest lap at 1:38.972. Chevrolet and LADA drivers remained all out of Q2; Nicola Larini missed the top-ten by 18 thousandths of a second, while Jaap van Lagen’s session ended prematurely because of an engine leak. In Q2, Yvan Muller was the first to post a quick lap at 1:37.924, but the reigning world champion was immediately ousted by Farfus with the time of 1:37.682. Jordi Gené, Félix Porteiro, Sergio Hernández and Andy Priaulx were the last to join the session. In the dying seconds Priaulx managed to jump into second with a lap of 1:37.727, a time which resisted to Tarquini’s last attempt that was worth third place (1:37.793). Porteiro completed a lap of 1:38.525 that gave him a brilliant eighth position on the grid for Race 1.[4]

Warm-Up

Pole sitter Farfus topped the times in Sunday morning's warm–up session, ahead of Priaulx and Rydell.[5]

Race One

Rickard Rydell forced his way through the BMW front row to claim SEAT’s third consecutive victory in three rounds. Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx put a lot of pressure on the Swedish driver and eventually settled in second and third respectively, the first podium results for BMW in the season so far. While SEAT and BMW men were fighting for the top positions, Nicola Larini managed to defend his eighth place, scoring the first point for the new Chevrolet Cruze. Félix Porteiro won the Independents’ class once again, recovering from the 14th position where he had fallen after being involved in a collision at the start.[6]

Race Two

The second race was another SEAT vs BMW fight. The reigning world champion Yvan Muller claimed his second victory of the season as he managed to keep at bay the former world champion Andy Priaulx. Jordi Gené took the lead at the start, but then, in a breathtaking succession of overtaking manoeuvres, Jörg Müller, Tarquini, Yvan Muller, Priaulx, Rydell and Farfus overturned the order completely. Müller and Tarquini however, had to leave the company after they clashed on lap 6 and slipped down. All the three Chevrolet cars completed the race, with Larini’s in tenth position, and so did the LADA cars, with Jaap van Lagen’s in 17th. Porteiro claimed a fourth consecutive win in the Independents’ trophy.

Results

Qualifying

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Q1 Q2
1 8 Brazil Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:37.981 1:37.682
2 6 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1:38.230 1:37.727
3 2 Italy Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.047 1:37.793
4 3 Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.411 1:37.874
5 1 France Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.386 1:37.924
6 5 Portugal Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.698 1:38.213
7 7 Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:38.375 1:38.287
8 23 Spain Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:38.872 1:38.525
9 4 Spain Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.250 1:38.749
10 10 Spain Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:38.434 1:38.952
11 14 Italy Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:38.890
12 9 Italy Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:39.174
13 11 United Kingdom Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:39.294
14 12 Switzerland Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:39.400
15 21 Netherlands Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 1:39.551
16 27 Italy Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 1:39.745
17 25 Germany Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 1:40.296
18 28 Croatia Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 1:40.346
19 22 United Kingdom Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 1:40.436
20 24 Bulgaria George Tanev Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:40.795
21 20 Russia Viktor Shapovalov LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 1:41.249
22 19 Russia Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 1:41.611
23 18 Netherlands Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 1:42.089
EX1 26 Denmark Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y Excluded
^1 Kristian Poulsen had his qualifying times deleted after failing to stop at the weighing point after the session.[7]

Race 1

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3 Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 26:40.728 4 10
2 8 Brazil Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +1.508 1 8
3 6 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 16 +1.986 2 6
4 1 France Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +4.620 5 5
5 7 Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +5.717 7 4
6 2 Italy Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +9.473 3 3
7 4 Spain Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +19.399 9 2
8 14 Italy Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +22.794 11 1
9 10 Spain Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +24.725 10
10 23 Spain Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 16 +25.990 8
11 5 Portugal Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +28.400 6
12 27 Italy Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 16 +30.289 16
13 9 Italy Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +33.765 12
14 25 Germany Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 16 +33.952 17
15 21 Netherlands Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 16 +34.302 15
16 22 United Kingdom Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 16 +45.954 19
17 18 Netherlands Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +46.557 23
18 19 Russia Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +57.945 22
19 20 Russia Viktor Shapovalov LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 13 +3 Laps 21
Ret 12 Switzerland Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 11 Suspension 14
NC 11 United Kingdom Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 6 +10 Laps 13
Ret 28 Croatia Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 0 Race incident 18
Ret 24 Bulgaria George Tanev Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 0 Mechanical 20
Ret 26 Denmark Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 0 Race incident 24

Race 2

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 France Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 26:41.014 5 10
2 6 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 16 +0.459 6 8
3 3 Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +1.240 8 6
4 8 Brazil Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +1.973 7 5
5 10 Spain Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +5.819 9 4
6 9 Italy Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +6.281 13 3
7 4 Spain Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +11.755 2 2
8 2 Italy Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +12.189 3 1
9 23 Spain Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 16 +15.513 10
10 14 Italy Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +16.593 1
11 25 Germany Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 16 +21.037 14
12 12 Switzerland Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +22.795 21
13 7 Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +22.987 4
14 11 United Kingdom Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +23.644 20
15 21 Netherlands Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 16 +24.218 15
16 27 Italy Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 16 +25.331 12
17 18 Netherlands Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +39.330 17
18 24 Bulgaria George Tanev Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 16 +39.790 23
19 20 Russia Viktor Shapovalov LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +44.302 19
20 19 Russia Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +48.976 18
21 22 United Kingdom Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 14 +2 Laps 16
22 28 Croatia Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 12 +4 Laps 22
Ret 26 Denmark Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 7 Race incident 24
Ret 5 Portugal Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 0 Race incident 11

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 France Yvan Muller 30
2 2 Sweden Rickard Rydell 30
2 3 Brazil Augusto Farfus 20
2 4 Italy Gabriele Tarquini 19
2 5 Spain Jordi Gené 18

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Spain Félix Porteiro 53
2 Netherlands Tom Coronel 30
3 Germany Franz Engstler 25
3 4 Italy Stefano D'Aste 18
1 5 United Kingdom Tom Boardman 17

Manufacturers' Championship standings
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Spain SEAT 67
2 Germany BMW 49
1 3 United States Chevrolet 10
1 4 Russia Lada 9

References

  1. Veltman, Rob (21 March 2009). "SEAT just ahead of BMW in Mexico". TouringCarTimes (Mediaempire Stockholm AB). Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  2. English, Steven (21 March 2009). "Rydell sets pace in practice at Puebla". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  3. English, Steven (21 March 2009). "Rydell quickest again in Mexico". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  4. http://www.fiawtcc.com/2009/uploadedFiles/PDF/RP.2.20093226381.pdf Qualifying Report
  5. Veltman, Rob (22 March 2009). "BMW in front again during warm up". TouringCarTimes (Mediaempire Stockholm AB). Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  6. http://www.fiawtcc.com/2009/uploadedFiles/PDF/RP.2.20093232255.pdf Race Report
  7. Veltman, Rob (22 March 2009). "Tanev penalty revised, Poulsen penalised". TouringCarTimes (Mediaempire Stockholm AB). Retrieved 30 January 2013.

External links

World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2009 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil
2009 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2009 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco
Previous race:
2008 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico
FIA WTCC Race of Mexico Next race:
no race
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