The 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil (formally the 2009 FIA WTCC HSBC Race of Brazil) was the first round of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held on March 8, 2009 at the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba near Curitiba, Brazil. It was the fourth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Brazil.
The two races were won by SEAT's Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, with SEAT filling both podiums.
Background The race marked the arrival of a fourth manufacturer, with Lada giving full backing to the Russian Bears Motorsport team, forming the Lada Sport team. SEAT, BMW and Chevrolet returned for their fifth seasons in the series, with Chevrolet introducing the new Cruze model.
Reigning Independents Trophy champion Sergio Hernández had joined BMW Team Italy-Spain from Scuderia Proteam Motorsport, swapping seats with fellow Spaniard Félix Porteiro. After a one-off appearance for the team in 2008, Tom Boardman joined SUNRED Engineering full-time, while Marin Čolak joined the series, forming his own team. Stefano D'Aste had returned to Wiechers-Sport, while Kristian Poulsen had joined Liqui Moly Team Engstler.
Report
Testing and free practice SEAT Sport driver Tarquini was fastest in the Friday test session. His fastest time was less than a tenth of a second faster than the BMW pair of Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller. Behind them were five SEATs led by Yvan Muller, while the new Chevrolet Cruze was ninth in the hands of Nicola Larini. Scuderia Proteam Motorsport driver Porteiro was the fastest driver in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy. Jaap van Lagen was the fastest Lada driver. SUNRED driver Tom Coronel stopped early on in the session when his engine failed while Engstler Motorsport driver Poulsen didn't get any running due to a fuel pump failure.
Defending champion Yvan Muller led a SEAT 1–2–3–4–5 in the Saturday morning practice session with Farfus sixth as the best BMW runner. Porteiro was once again the fastest independent driver while Larini was the fastest Chevrolet. BMW Team UK driver Andy Priaulx finished 17th having suffered from brake problems.
Jörg Müller was fastest in the second free practice session ahead of earlier pace setter Yvan Muller. Priaulx was third after his brake problems in the morning session, while Alain Menu put his Chevrolet in seventh. Coronel missed more practice time due to a clutch problem on his Sunred SEAT.
Qualifying For the first time qualifying was split into two sessions. The first determined the top ten, who would go through to the second session. The first session was red-flagged after five minutes when Kristian Poulsen crashed heavily into the wall at the final turn. Yvan Muller was fastest in the session, ahead of Gabriele Tarquini. Amongst those that went out in Q1 were Sergio Hernández, Rob Huff and Alex Zanardi.http://www.fiawtcc.com/2009/uploadedFiles/PDF/RP.1.20093801218.pdf Qualifying Report
Muller also set the fastest time in Q2, winning pole position ahead of his teammates, Jordi Gené, Tarquini, Tiago Monteiro and Rickard Rydell.
Warm-Up Jörg Müller was the fastest driver in Sunday mornings warm up session, leading a BMW 1–2–3 ahead of Farfus and Priaulx. Pole sitter Yvan Muller was fourth.
Race One The first race was dominated by Muller, as he led from the beginning until the end. SEAT teammates Gené, Rydell and Tarquini finished in second, third and fourth respectively. Alain Menu retired following a collision on the opening lap, involving him and the BMWs of Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx. Müller spent five laps in the pits before rejoining the race, while Priaulx went on to climb from 21st to ninth. The safety car was introduced on lap six, following a crash for Stefano D'Aste. Nicola Larini finished the race in fifth, scoring the first points for the new Chevrolet Cruze. Augusto Farfus finished sixth ahead of Hernández and Monteiro. Félix Porteiro won the Independents’ class, finishing tenth overall.http://www.fiawtcc.com/2009/uploadedFiles/PDF/RP.1.2009310135918.pdf Race Report
After the race, Larini and Monteiro were given 30-second penalties after overtaking during the safety car period, dropping them to 15th and 16th respectively. Jaap van Lagen and George Tanev were also given the same penalties. Andy Priaulx and Porteiro inherited seventh and eighth places respectively.
Race Two SEAT encored in race two, once again placing four drivers in the top four positions. The race started behind the safety car on a track flooded by a violent thunderstorm, with Félix Porteiro who had inherited pole position after Tiago Monteiro’s penalty. In the early stages the BMW drivers - Félix Porteiro, Andy Priaulx, Sergio Hernández and Augusto Farfus – set the pace, but soon the SEAT tide became unstoppable. Gabriele Tarquini, Rickard Rydell, Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller jumped on top to stay, while Porteiro repeated his success in the Independents’ class.
Results
Qualifying Name Team Car Q1 Q2 1 1 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:24.345 1:24.196 2 4 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:24.796 1:24.315 3 2 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:24.537 1:24.355 4 5 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:24.554 1:24.472 5 3 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:24.845 1:24.486 6 7 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:24.706 1:24.637 7 8 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:24.772 1:24.749 8 12 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:24.534 1:24.831 9 14 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:25.010 1:24.831 10 6 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1:24.772 1:24.933 11 10 Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:25.046 12 23 Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 1:25.377 13 11 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:25.456 14 9 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:25.488 15 25 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 1:26.018 16 22 Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 1:26.026 17 27 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 1:26.076 18 21 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 1:26.220 19 28 Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 1:26.281 20 18 Jaap van Lagen Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 1:26.753 21 24 George Tanev Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 1:26.940 22 26 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 1:27.578 23 19 Kirill Ladygin Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 1:27.585 24 20 Viktor Shapovalov Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 1:28.035
Race 1 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 26:45.799 1 10 2 4 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +2.098 2 8 3 3 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +2.880 5 6 4 2 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +3.501 3 5 5 8 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +7.766 7 4 6 10 Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +8.152 11 3 7 6 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 16 +12.128 10 2 8 23 Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 16 +13.441 12 1 9 21 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 +15.971 18 10 9 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +16.105 14 11 22 Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 +16.990 16 12 25 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 16 +20.829 15 13 20 Viktor Shapovalov Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +26.339 24 14 19 Kirill Ladygin Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +27.540 23 15 14 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +37.183 9 16 5 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +38.767 4 17 18 Jaap van Lagen Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +54.116 20 18 24 George Tanev Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 16 +54.868 21 19 28 Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 13 +3 Laps 19 20 26 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 13 +3 Laps 22 NC 7 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 11 +5 Laps 6 Ret 11 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 5 Mechanical 13 Ret 27 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 4 Race incident 17 Ret 12 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 2 Race incident 8 Bold denotes Fastest lap.
Race 2 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 27:44.649 5 10 2 3 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +0.810 6 8 3 4 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +5.869 7 6 4 1 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +7.157 8 5 5 7 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +9.916 20 4 6 8 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +11.759 4 3 7 23 Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 16 +13.721 1 2 8 21 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 +14.216 9 1 9 6 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 16 +17.682 2 10 10 Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +18.144 3 11 12 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +19.046 22 12 5 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +23.097 16 13 11 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +23.376 21 14 9 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +27.315 10 15 14 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +27.694 15 16 25 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 16 +29.859 12 17 18 Jaap van Lagen Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +34.424 17 18 26 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 16 +35.860 19 19 22 Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 +36.601 11 20 27 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 16 +36.992 23 21 24 George Tanev Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 16 +48.908 18 22 19 Kirill Ladygin Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +49.709 14 23 20 Viktor Shapovalov Lada Sport LADA 110 2.0 16 +1:13.069 13 DNS 28 Marin Čolak Čolak Racing Team Ingra SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 0 Did not start 24 Bold denotes Fastest lap.
Standings after the event
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Yvan Muller 15 2 Gabriele Tarquini 15 3 Jordi Gené 14 4 Rickard Rydell 14 5 Augusto Farfus 7
Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Félix Porteiro 31 2 Tom Coronel 19 3 Franz Engstler 11 4 Tom Boardman 10 5 Kristian Poulsen 7
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 SEAT 36 2 BMW 22 3 Lada 10 4 Chevrolet 9
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.
References
External links Results Booklet PDF at MST Systems