2008 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil

The 2008 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil was the opening round of the 2008 World Touring Car Championship season and the third running of the FIA WTCC Race of Brazil. It took place on 2 March at the Autodromo Internacional de Curitiba in Pinhais, Brazil.

2008 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil
Race details
Date2 March, 2008
LocationPinhais, Brazil
CourseAutódromo Internacional de Curitiba
3.695 kilometres (2.296 mi)
Race One
Laps 16
Pole position
Driver Yvan Muller SEAT Sport
Time 1:24.295
Podium
First Yvan Muller SEAT Sport
Second Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport
Third Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany
Fastest Lap
Driver Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Time 1:25.100
Race Two
Laps 14
Podium
First Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport
Second Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Third Félix Porteiro BMW Team Italy-Spain
Fastest Lap
Driver Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany
Time 1:24.959

Both races were won by SEAT Sport with Yvan Muller winning race one and Gabriele Tarquini winning race two.

Background

Having run their diesel engine in three of their cars towards the end of 2007, SEAT Sport entered five cars powered by their TDI engine for 2008 as they looked to challenge BMW.[1]

Report

Testing and free practice

Augusto Farfus was quickest in the Friday test session, Sergio Hernández in 14th was the best placed independent driver.[2]

Fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller topped the first free practice session on Saturday morning which took place on a drying track.[3]

SUNRED Engineering's Tom Coronel was quickest in the second practice session, just 0.002 seconds quicker than the BMW of Farfus.[4]

Qualifying

Yvan Muller led a SEAT front row with Rickard Rydell second. Farfus was third for BMW having had two of his fast laps interrupted, the first when the red flags came out for Chevrolet's Alain Menu who crashed at the final corner and the second time when he had to avoid a spinning Jörg Müller. Tarquini had the engine in his car changed prior to qualifying and ended the session fourth fastest while Nicola Larini was the best of the Chevrolets in fifth. His teammate Robert Huff was caught out by the red flag and started eighth for race one. Jordi Gené was ninth having suffered brake problems and Coronel behind him was the best–placed petrol–powered SEAT. Exagon Engineering's Pierre-Yves Corthals was the independents' pole sitter in 15th.[5]

Menu escaped without injury from accident but was transferred to hospital shortly after for precautionary scans.[6] He was later cleared to race having qualified 11th.

Warm-Up

Farfus led a BMW 1–2–3 in the Sunday morning warm–up session, pole sitter Yvan Muller was ninth.[7]

Race One

Yvan Muller held first place at the start ahead of Rydell, Tarquini ran first in the early stages of the race before being passed by Farfus. Farfus was closing in second–placed Rydell but was unable to make a move having had to defend from teammate Jörg Müller on the last lap. Andy Priaulx had started 12th and climbed up the order to finish 5th, passing Tarquini and Gené in the final laps. Yvan Muller and Rydell successfully converted their front row starts into a SEAT 1–2, Coronel finished eighth to take pole position for race two. Corthals was the victor in the independents' trophy.[8]

Gené and Corthals were both later given 30–second penalties after the race for driving infringements, Corthals' penalty handed victory in the independents' trophy to Olivier Tielemans.[9] It was also discovered that the BMW of Farfus did not comply with the technical regulations and he was excluded from the race.[10]

Race Two

Coronel started on pole position, a bad start saw him drop well down the order. Porteiro assumed the lead which was then taken by Tarquini further around the first lap. On lap nine a charging Priaulx passed Félix Porteiro to take second place on lap nine and by the end of the race was on the tail of Tarquini. Tarquini finished first to take the second win of the weekend for SEAT, Priaulx was second and Porteiro third. Jörg Müller ended up fourth ahead of Yvan Muller after an intense battle between the pair. Coronel ended up outside the points in ninth. Tielemans was the independents' victor again.[11]

Results

Qualifying

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Time
1 12 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 1:24.295
2 10 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 1:24.404
3 3 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:24.482
4 11 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 1:24.527
5 6 Nicola Larini Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 1:24.579
6 2 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:24.659
7 18 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 1:24.730
8 7 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 1:24.738
9 9 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 1:24.785
10 20 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TFSI 1:24.987
11 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 1:24.993
12 1 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1:25.046
13 5 Félix Porteiro BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:25.166
14 4 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:25.175
15 23 Pierre-Yves Corthals Exagon Engineering SEAT León TFSI Y 1:25.363
16 31 Sergio Hernández Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:25.721
17 26 Stefano D'Aste Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:25.806
18 16 Olivier Tielemans Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 1:26.003
19 42 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 1:26.437
20 43 Andrey Romanov Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 1:27.813
21 13 Ibrahim Okyay Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:28.412

Race 1

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 16 23:47.024 1 10
2 10 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 16 +0.763 2 8
3 2 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +1.512 6 6
4 1 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 16 +6.747 12 5
5 11 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 16 +8.247 4 4
6 5 Félix Porteiro BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +15.564 13 3
7 20 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TFSI 16 +16.334 10 2
8 16 Olivier Tielemans Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 16 +22.871 18 1
9 26 Stefano D'Aste Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 16 +25.886 17
10 42 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 16 +30.859 19
11 9 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 16 +38.170 9
12 43 Andrey Romanov Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 16 +46.658 20
13 23 Pierre-Yves Corthals Exagon Engineering SEAT León TFSI Y 16 +48.035 15
14 31 Sergio Hernández Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 15 +1 Lap 16
15 4 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 15 +1 Lap 14
16 13 Ibrahim Okyay Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW 320si Y 15 +1 Lap 21
17 18 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 13 +3 Laps 7
Ret 7 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 7 Race incident 8
Ret 6 Nicola Larini Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 2 Race incident 3
Ret 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 2 Race incident 11
DSQ 3 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 Disqualified 3
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 11 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 14 20:06.577 4 10
2 1 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 14 +0.327 5 8
3 5 Félix Porteiro BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 14 +1.202 3 6
4 2 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 14 +1.745 6 5
5 12 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 14 +5.045 8 4
6 3 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 14 +5.360 21 3
7 10 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport Seat Leon TDI 14 +6.306 7 2
8 9 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 14 +7.637 11 1
9 20 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TFSI 14 +13.536 2
10 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 14 +17.262 10
11 4 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 14 +17.693 15
12 6 Nicola Larini Chevrolet RML BMW 320si 14 +17.901 19
13 18 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León TDI 14 +18.597 17
14 16 Olivier Tielemans Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 14 +18.822 1
15 31 Sergio Hernández Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 14 +19.242 14
16 26 Stefano D'Aste Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 14 +20.272 9
17 42 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 14 +21.476 10
18 23 Pierre-Yves Corthals Exagon Engineering SEAT León TFSI Y 14 +24.299 13
19 23 Andrey Romanov Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 14 +41.445 12
20 13 Ibrahim Okyay Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW 320si Y 13 +1 Lap 16
Ret 7 Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Lacetti 1 Race incident 18
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

  1. "SEAT confirms `08 line-up". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  2. Peters, Ed (29 February 2008). "Farfus sets a new record at Curitiba". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  3. Peters, Ed (1 March 2008). "Müller quickest in first practice". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  4. Straw, Edd (1 March 2008). "Coronel fastest in final practice". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  5. Straw, Edd (1 March 2008). "Y Muller leads all-SEAT front row". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  6. Peters, Ed (2 March 2008). "Menu transferred to hospital". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  7. Meissner, Johan (2 March 2008). "BMW dominates Curitiba Warm Up". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  8. Straw, Edd (2 March 2008). "Yvan Muller wins the season-opener". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  9. Straw, Edd (2 March 2008). "Gene and Corthals penalised". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  10. Wright, David (3 March 2008). "Farfus excluded from race one". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  11. Straw, Edd (2 March 2008). "Tarquini beats BMWs to race two win". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2007 Guia Race of Macau
2008 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2008 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico
Previous race:
2007 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil
FIA WTCC Race of Brazil Next race:
2009 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil
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