2009 FIA WTCC Race of Spain
Introduction The '''FIA WTCC Race of Spain 2009''' was the fifth round of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season and the fifth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Spain. It was held on 31 May 2009 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, near Valencia in Spain. The first race was won by Gabriele Tarquini for SEAT Sport and the second race was won by Augusto Farfus for BMW Team Germany.
Background SEAT Sport driver Yvan Muller was leading the drivers' championship coming into the event, BMW driver Farfus was six points behind in second and Gabriele Tarquini was a further five points behind. Franz Engstler was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy with Félix Porteiro second.Having missed the previous round at Pau due to damage sustained at the Race of Morocco, Vito Postiglione returned to the championship with Scuderia Proteam Motorsport.After a disappointing performance at Pau, the SEAT León TDIs were given a 0.2 bar increase in boost pressure for the Race of Spain to return the diesels to competitive form.
Report ===Free Practice===Yvan Muller set the pace in the opening free practice session, the increase in boost pressure for the TDI engine produced a SEAT 1–2–3 result. Tom Coronel was the leading petrol car, Nicola Larini was the leading Chevrolet car and the heavier BMWs were led by Farfus in ninth.SEAT stayed on top in the second practice session, this time courtesy of Tiago Monteiro. Farfus was second for BMW and Larini was third for Chevrolet. Jaap van Lagen did not participate in the session, as the engine was changed in his LADA Sport Lada 110 2.0.The session was interrupted with a red flag when Jordi Gené went off the circuit and left gravel on the track.===Qualifying===Tarquini set pole position on his final timed lap, to achieve his first pole since the 2007 Race of Germany. SEAT Sport locked out the first two rows of the grid at their home event with Yvan Muller second, Gené third and Monteiro fourth. SEAT driver Rickard Rydell was fastest in Q1 at the head of a 1–2–3 for the marque, while Farfus was the only BMW to escape Q1.All three Chevrolet drivers progressed to Q2 while both LADAs lined up near the back of the grid. With SEAT claiming the first four positions in Q2, Farfus separated them from the leading Chevrolet of Alain Menu. SUNRED Engineering's Tom Coronel was the only independent driver to make it into Q2, and he lined up tenth for the first race.===Warm-Up===Rydell was fastest in Sunday morning warm up session with pole sitter Tarquini thirteenth.===Race One===Yvan Muller made a good start to take the lead from Tarquini straight away, while Monteiro also passed Tarquini to finish second. Having dropped out in Q1, triple champion Andy Priaulx battled through from fourteenth to fifth while the leading BMW of Farfus had a difficult race amongst the SEATs. He recovered after Gené pushed him wide, he then dropped down to seventh when he was involved in a tangle with Rydell, Menu and Gené but he then climbed up the order to claim fourth. This was helped by Jörg Müller dropping two places at the final corner. Coronel was the independent winner having finished seventh while further down the order, BMW Team Italy-Spain driver Sergio Hernández and Wiechers-Sport's Stefano D'Aste battled over the eighth place which would become pole position for race two, with Hernández coming out victorious.===Race Two===The second race saw a 1–2 finish for BMW Team Germany, with Farfus winning and Jörg Müller second. Jörg Müller had started from third and took the lead of the race which he held until the third lap, when Farfus assumed the race lead. The leading pair distanced themselves from the rest of the field which was being led by Tarquini and Priaulx in the battle for the third and final podium spot. Ultimately, it was Tarquini to finish third, to deny BMW a 1–2–3 finish. Coronel started on the front row but could not match the start of the rear-wheel drive BMW of pole sitter Hernández. Coronel finished tenth and Hernández sixth, while D'Aste took the independent win with ninth place.
Results ===Qualifying===   Name Team Car  Q1 Q2 1 2  Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  1:45.888 1:44.414 2 1  Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  1:45.516 1:44.646 3 4  Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  1:45.790 1:44.826 4 5  Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:45.542 1:44.896 5 8  Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si  1:45.638 1:45.080 6 12  Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  1:45.681 1:45.314 7 11  Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  1:46.038 1:45.440 8 3  Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  1:45.424 1:45.538 9 14  Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  1:45.854 1:45.702 10 21  Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 1:45.949 no time set 11 7  Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si  1:46.126  12 9  Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si  1:46.221  13 10  Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si  1:46.250  14 6  Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si  1:46.331  15 23  Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si'''Y''' 1:46.426  16 27  Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si'''Y''' 1:46.525  17 30  Mehdi Bennani Exagon Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 1:46.615  18 28  Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 1:46.633  19 22  Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 1:47.439  20 31  Vito Postiglione Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si'''Y''' 1:47.462  21 25  Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si'''Y''' 1:47.547  22 20  Viktor Shapovalov LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  1:47.901  23 26  Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si'''Y''' 1:48.492  24 19  Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  1:48.530 107% time: 1:52.823 — 18  Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  12:23.222 ===Race 1===   Name Team Car  Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1  '''Yvan Muller''' SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 23:13.675 2 '''10''' 2 5  Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +1.884 4 '''8''' 3 2  Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +4.157 1 '''6''' 4 8  Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si  13 +5.364 5 '''5''' 5 6  Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si  13 +5.855 14 '''4''' 6 7  Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si  13 +5.943 11 '''3''' 7 21  Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +8.096 10 '''2''' 8 10  Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si  13 +12.106 13 '''1''' 9 27  Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +13.301 16  10 23  Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +15.846 15  11 14  Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  13 +16.461 9  12 9  Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si  13 +22.528 12  13 3  Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +23.038 8  14 30  Mehdi Bennani Exagon Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +25.385 17 15 12  Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  13 +26.381 6  16 25  Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +32.002 21  17 22  Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +33.042 19  18 28  Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +33.730 18  19 31  Vito Postiglione Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +34.781 20  20 20  Viktor Shapovalov LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  13 +38.341 24  21 18  Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  12 +1 Lap 25  22 11  Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  12 +1 Lap 7  Ret 19  Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  7 Engine overheating 23  Ret 26  Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si'''Y''' 1 Race incident 22  Ret 4  Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  0 Race incident 3 *'''Bold''' denotes ''Fastest lap''.===Race 2===   Name Team Car  Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8  '''Augusto Farfus''' BMW Team Germany BMW 320si  13 23:16.075 5 '''10''' 2 7  Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si  13 +0.540 3 '''8''' 3 2  Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +5.426 6 '''6''' 4 6  Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si  13 +5.884 4 '''5''' 5 9  Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si  13 +6.676 12 '''4''' 6 10  Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si  13 +7.178 1 '''3''' 7 1  Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +11.169 8 '''2''' 8 5  Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +11.569 7 '''1''' 9 27  Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +13.052 9  10 21  Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +16.936 2  11 4  Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +17.978 22  12 12  Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  13 +20.965 15  13 14  Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  13 +23.139 11  14 3  Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI  13 +23.635 13  15 23  Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +24.470 10  16 25  Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +29.515 16  17 31  Vito Postiglione Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +32.556 19  18 28  Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +33.721 18  19 22  Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +34.859 17  20 26  Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si'''Y''' 13 +35.793 23  21 20  Viktor Shapovalov LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  13 +36.289 20  22 11  Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT  13 +43.503 21  23 30  Mehdi Bennani Exagon Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSI'''Y''' 13 +43.550 14 24 19  Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  13 +46.540 24  Ret 18  Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport LADA 110 2.0  3 Oil pressure 25 *'''Bold''' denotes ''Fastest lap''.
Championship standings ;Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1  Yvan Muller 57 10px 2  Augusto Farfus 54 10px 3  Gabriele Tarquini 46 10px 2 4  Andy Priaulx 35 10px 1 5  Robert Huff 32;Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 10px 2 1  Tom Coronel 82 10px 1 2  Franz Engstler 80 10px 3  Félix Porteiro 80 10px 4  Stefano D'Aste 44 10px 5  Tom Boardman 28;Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 10px 1  SEAT 136 10px 2  BMW 120 10px 3  Chevrolet 96 10px 4  Lada 35* '''Note:''' Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.
References
External links * Results Booklet PDF at MST Systems