2010 FIA WTCC Race of Spain

The 2010 FIA WTCC Race of Spain (formally the 2010 FIA WTCC DHL Race of Spain) was the ninth round of the 2010 World Touring Car Championship season and the sixth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Spain. It was held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo near Valencia, Spain on 19 September 2010. The two races were won by SR-Sport drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro.

Spain 2010 FIA WTCC Race of Spain
Race details
Date19 September, 2010
LocationValencia, Spain
CourseCircuit Ricardo Tormo
4.005 kilometres (2.489 mi)
Race One
Laps 13
Pole position
Driver Italy Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport
Time 1:44.111
Podium
First Italy Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport
Second France Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Third United Kingdom Robert Huff Chevrolet RML
Fastest Lap
Driver Italy Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport
Time 1:45.811
Race Two
Laps 13
Podium
First Portugal Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport
Second France Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML
Third Italy Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport
Fastest Lap
Driver Portugal Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport
Time 1:46.719

Background edit

Coming into the final European round of the season, Chevrolet RML driver Yvan Muller was leading the drivers' championship and Sergio Hernández was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Marc Carol joined the field in a SEAT Customers Technology run SEAT León 2.0 TFSI.[1] Carol had last raced in the World Touring Car Championship at the 2005 FIA WTCC Race of Spain. Fabio Fabiani didn't return after the Race of Germany.

Report edit

Free practice edit

BMW Team RBM's Augusto Farfus was fastest in the opening practice session on Saturday morning, beating the lead Chevrolet of Alain Menu. Gabriele Tarquini was the leading SEAT in fifth while Carol was the quickest independent driver on his return to the WTCC.[2]

SR–Sport's Tom Coronel set the pace in the final practice session, edging out Menu by a tenth of a second. Kristian Poulsen was both the leading independent and BMW driver in seventh.[3]

Qualifying edit

Tarquini took pole position in qualifying for the first race on Sunday, beating the Chevrolet of Robert Huff. Fredy Barth had been the fastest driver in the first element of qualifying, beating the works Chevrolet drivers. Norbert Michelisz suffered an engine failure during Q1, finishing thirteenth while Franz Engstler ended his session in the gravel after setting a time good enough for fourteenth. Andy Priaulx narrowly made it through to Q2, finishing the session tenth at the expense of Michel Nykjær.

Tarquini set his pole time early on while later fast laps from Huff and Muller saw them finish second and third ahead of Menu who was hampered with gearbox problems. Tiago Monteiro and Coronel, who would take a ten place grid penalty for an unscheduled engine change. Jordi Gené, Barth and the works BMW pair of Priaulx and Farfus completed the top ten.[4]

Warm-Up edit

Michelisz led Sunday morning's warm–up session with pole sitter Tarquini half a second behind.[5]

Race One edit

Tarquini led away from pole position while further down, Priaulx moved up from ninth to sixth. Muller easily got ahead of Huff to take second place in opening laps while Barth and Farfus were battling over who would start on the front row for race two. Menu had dropped down the order to claim the reversed grid pole as Barth repeatedly tapped Farfus' rear bumper. The BMW eventually went wide, giving sevenths place to Barth. At the front, Tarquini took the win with Muller second and Huff third. Gené was fourth, Priaulx finished fifth and Monteiro was sixth. Poulsen was twelfth and won the independents' class.[6]

Race Two edit

Menu started on pole position and was followed by Barth, the two were then passed up each side by Monteiro on the outside and Priaulx on the inside. Priaulx and Menu then collided, allowing Monteiro to assume the lead and Barth took second place. Priaulx attempted another move on Menu at turn three but the Chevrolet took the normal line through the corner, the pair collided and Menu spun. Priaulx was delayed but Muller took the opportunity to pass both of them and take third, he then took second from Barth when the Swiss SEAT driver slowed with a puncture. Priaulx was left to battle with Tarquini for third, with Tarquini coming out on top. At the end of the race, Monteiro took the win with Muller second and Tarquini third. Poulsen was the Yokohama Trophy winner.[7]

Results edit

Qualifying edit

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Q1 Q2
1 1   Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:44.727 1:44.111
2 7   Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:44.937 1:44.193
3 6   Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:44.922 1:44.258
4 8   Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:44.710 1:44.439
5 3   Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:44.869 1:44.468
6 2   Tom Coronel SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:44.789 1:44.525
7 4   Jordi Gené SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:44.897 1:44.773
8 18   Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:44.604 1:45.070
9 10   Augusto Farfus BMW Team RBM BMW 320si 1:44.823 1:45.205
10 11   Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM BMW 320si 1:45.313 1:45.416
11 17   Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:45.339
12 24   Kristian Poulsen Poulsen Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:45.607
13 5   Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:45.741
14 39   Marc Carol SEAT Customers Technology SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 1:45.837
15 20   Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti Y 1:46.017
16 25   Sergio Hernández Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:46.116
17 21   Mehdi Bennani Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 1:46.419
18 15   Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 1:46.717
19 26   Stefano D'Aste Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 1:46.783
20 72   Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti Y 1:46.997
21 16   Andrei Romanov Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 1:47.344

Race 1 edit

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 23:11.124 1 25
2 6   Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 13 +0.513 3 18
3 7   Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 13 +6.318 2 15
4 4   Jordi Gené SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +9.949 6 12
5 11   Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM BMW 320si 13 +10.544 9 10
6 3   Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +11.666 5 8
7 18   Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +13.734 7 6
8 8   Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 13 +14.521 4 4
9 17   Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +16.586 10 2
10 2   Tom Coronel SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +17.217 16 1
11 5   Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +17.929 12
12 24   Kristian Poulsen Poulsen Motorsport BMW 320si Y 13 +18.434 11
13 39   Marc Carol SEAT Customers Technology SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 13 +22.095 13
14 20   Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti Y 13 +25.535 14
15 15   Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 13 +29.318 18
16 16   Andrei Romanov Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 13 +32.595 21
17 72   Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti Y 13 +37.004 20
18 10   Augusto Farfus BMW Team RBM BMW 320si 13 +1:37.389 8
19 25   Sergio Hernández Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 11 +2 Laps 15
Ret 21   Mehdi Bennani Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 6 Driveshaft 17
Ret 26   Stefano D'Aste Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 4 Race incident 19
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2 edit

Pos. No. Name Team Car C Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3   Tiago Monteiro SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 23:29.770 3 25
2 6   Yvan Muller Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 13 +0.719 7 18
3 1   Gabriele Tarquini SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +3.455 8 15
4 11   Andy Priaulx BMW Team RBM BMW 320si 13 +3.785 4 12
5 4   Jordi Gené SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +4.183 5 10
6 7   Robert Huff Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 13 +4.982 6 8
7 17   Michel Nykjær SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +7.248 9 6
8 10   Augusto Farfus BMW Team RBM BMW 320si 13 +7.825 18 4
9 2   Tom Coronel SR-Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +9.024 10 2
10 24   Kristian Poulsen Poulsen Motorsport BMW 320si Y 13 +10.125 12 1
11 8   Alain Menu Chevrolet RML Chevrolet Cruze LT 13 +13.356 1
12 5   Norbert Michelisz Zengő-Dension Team SEAT León 2.0 TDI 13 +15.226 11
13 39   Marc Carol SEAT Customers Technology SEAT León 2.0 TFSI Y 13 +15.789 13
14 15   Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 13 +15.954 15
15 25   Sergio Hernández Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 13 +18.716 20
16 21   Mehdi Bennani Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si Y 13 +27.455 19
17 20   Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti Y 13 +29.011 14
18 72   Yukinori Taniguchi bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Lacetti Y 13 +32.972 17
19 16   Andrei Romanov Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 13 +33.636 16
Ret 18   Fredy Barth SEAT Swiss Racing by SUNRED SEAT León 2.0 TDI 7 Brakes 2
DNS 26   Stefano D'Aste Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si Y 0 Did not start 21
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ Allen, Peter (7 September 2010). "Marc Carol To Race In Valencia". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  2. ^ Hudson, Neil (18 September 2010). "Farfus leads Free Practice 1 at Valencia". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  3. ^ English, Steven (18 September 2010). "Coronel fastest in final practice". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  4. ^ Allen, Peter (18 September 2010). "Tarquini Secures Pole At Valencia". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  5. ^ Hudson, Neil (19 September 2010). "Michelisz leads Valencia warm-up". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  6. ^ English, Steven (19 September 2010). "Victory boosts Tarquini's title hopes". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  7. ^ English, Steven (19 September 2010). "Monteiro wins second Valencia race". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 9 February 2013.

External links edit

World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2010 FIA WTCC Race of Germany
2010 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2010 FIA WTCC Race of Japan
Previous race:
2009 FIA WTCC Race of Spain
FIA WTCC Race of Spain Next race:
2011 FIA WTCC Race of Spain