Rickard Rydell and Tiago Monteiro have been victorious at the sixth meeting of the World Touring Car Championship staged this weekend at the Portuguese racetrack of Estoril. The Seat drivers took the victory in both races, with Yvan Muller finishing third and second respectively. With this result, Seat keep three drivers in the top three positions of the drivers’ championship and increase their advantage in the constructors’ championship.
 
Both in the first and second races, the Seat Sport drivers had to fight hard for the victory, having their rivals at their wheels at all times. Rydell opened a gap of at least one second to Larini (Chevrolet) in the first race, whilst Monteiro had to overtake Porteiro (BMW) who stayed in his slipstream almost until the finish, when he was overtaken by Muller and Priaulx (BMW), who were less than three tenths apart. With the Seat León TDI driver crossing the finish line before the BMW, Muller achieved the third one-two finish of the season for the Spanish make, after Brazil and Mexico.
 
Jordi Gené also managed to score after a first excellent race and a hard fight with Robert Huff (Chevrolet) and Andy Priaulx (BMW), thus getting valuable points for the championship, whilst Gabriele Tarquini was not able to finish in the points in none of the races. Pierre Yves Corthals rounded-off SEAT’s success taking the Independents' Trophy in the first race.
 
Statements of the drivers
 
Tiago Monteiro (SEAT León TDI no. 18), 7th/1st: “ A phantastic weekend and a very special one for me. After the victory in Mexico I’ve had a run of average results. I want to thank the team for their help and their great job. They have allowed me and the whole team to get this excellent result in Estoril with Rickard’s victory, mine and both podium finishes of Yvan. I’m very happy”.
 
Rickard Rydell (SEAT León TDI no. 10), 1st/8th: "A very good weekend for the team and for me, and I’m happy with my performance, both in practice and in the first race with my first victory of the season. It wasn't as good in the second race, but I think that we can be happy all together".
 
Yvan Muller: (SEAT León TDI no. 12), 3rd/4th: “This has been a great weekend for me. After the practices I couldn’t expect such a good race day for me, being twice on the podium and scoring very important points for the team in the constructors’ world championship".
 
Jordi Gené (SEAT León TDI no. 9), 5th/9th:  "I’m happy for Seat because this is a circuit that raised several problems. Everything went perfect in the first race, but I didn't feel comfortable with the car in the second race. It’s been a shame because I would have been able to score some more points".
 
Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT León TDI no. 11), 13th/11th: “This has obviously been a negative weekend. I’m leaving Estoril with a double zero. I hope I won’t have to face such a complicated race ever again".
 
Jaime Puig, Seat Sport Director: "A perfect weekend. We didn’t expect to achieve such a brilliant result and the whole team has been on a perfect level fighting to the top. The weather helped us as well, since the temperature was a bit lower during the second race allowing the tyres to resist until the end."
 
RESULTS
 
RACE 1
1. R.Rydell (SEAT León TDI)
2. N.Larini (Chevrolet), + 0”816
3. Y.Muller (SEAT León TDI) + 8”160
4. R.Huff (Chevrolet) + 10”860
5. J.Gené (SEAT León TDI) + 12”316
6. A.Priaulx (BMW) + 12”605
7. T.Monteiro (SEAT León TDI) + 13”222
10. T.Coronel (SEAT) + 14”866
12. P.Y.Corthals (SEAT) + 22”834, 1st T. Independents
13 G.Tarquini (SEAT León TDI) + 24”956
DNF Tom Boardman (SEAT)
 
RACE 2
1. . T.Monteiro (SEAT León TDI)
2. Y.Muller (SEAT León TDI) + 2”635
3. A.Priaulx (BMW) + 2”921
4. F.Porteiro (BMW) + 3”578
5. R.Huff (Chevrolet) + 4”028
8. R.Rydell (SEAT León TDI) + 7”495
9. J.Gené (SEAT León TDI) + 9”833
11, G.Tarquini (SEAT León TDI) + 11”130
12. T.Coronel (SEAT) + 12”848
17. Tom Boardman (SEAT) + 22”318
19. P.Y.Corthals (SEAT) + 24”048
 
OVERALL DRIVERS' STANDINGS
1. G. Tarquini (SEAT), 58 p.
2. Y.Muller (SEAT), 57 p.
3.R.Rydell (SEAT) 48 p.
4. A.Priaulx (BMW), 43 p.
5. R.Huff (Chevrolet), 36 p.
6. J.Gené (SEAT), 34 p.
11. T.Monteiro (SEAT), 24 p.
 
OVERALL CONSTRUCTORS’ STANDINGS
1.SEAT, 172 P.
2.BMW, 135 P.
3. Chevrolet, 115 p.
4. Honda 19 p.