|
Yvan Muller wins Monza first race |
|
|
|
|
Monday, 06 October 2008 |
SEAT
Sport's Yvan Muller, who leads the Driver's Championship, took the
first win in Monza from team mate Gabriele Tarquini. Rickard Rydell
finished behind them in third to make it a complete SEAT podium.
But the race was not as simple as it sounds. As they all raced over the line for the rolling start. Félix
Porteiro made contact with James Thompson, sending the N.technology
Honda driver spinning across the track. He collected third position
driver Jordi Gené, Alain Menu, Robert Huff,
Pierre-Yves Corthals and Stefano D'Aste. Gené, Huff and Corthals
escaped relatively cleanly as they slotted back into the race, but Menu
fell back to the bottom of the field. D'Aste rejoined after a long pit
stop and Porteiro was unable to continue, though he managed to get his
damaged car back to the pits for the mechanics to fix for race 2.
Thompson was also out of the race, as his car was left stranded in the
middle of the racetrack.
Yvan Muller
led the race at this point from Tarquini, and Rydell, but further back
things were getting interesting. Huff fought with and overtook
Alessandro Zanardi over the finish line as the cars completed the first
lap, demonstrating the speed potential of the Chevrolet Lacetti. His
team mate Nicola Larini, who had a great start getting up to fourth,
was being chased by the BMWs of Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx. Farfus
managed to find a way past him, only for the Italian to take him back
again, and then tried to overtake Rydell, but he was forced backwards
as Rydell closed the door. Then Priaulx took Farfus, and it began to
look like the Brazilian was having problems with the car. Within a lap
he was forced to stop at the end of the pit straight with smoke pouring
out of the back of the car.
Half way
through the race Tarquini took the lead as he got into Muller's
slipstream, but a couple of laps later Tarquini let his team mate back
through after Muller got a good slipstream. So Muller finished ahead of
Championship rivals Tarquini and Rydell, with Priaulx in fourth and
Monteiro, in the SEAT that lost out in qualifying yesterday, behind him
in fifth.
Larini finished sixth
following an incident with Rydell in the final lap of the race. He
tried to pass the SEAT driver, made contact and forced Rydell to cut
the chicane. Rydell slowed down to abide by regulations, but Larini
suffered damage and began to fall back, finishing just ahead of his
team mate. Huff overtook Gené on the final laps to take seventh
position, and Gené who lost out in the first corner will start from
pole for the second race.
Corthals and
Franz Engstler had a good fight for the Independents' Trophy. Corthals
struggled on the straights following the first lap incident with
Thompson, but was able to beat Engstler into the corners as he finally
took the win.
|
