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A double header of motorsport action descended upon the Brazilian city of Curitiba. The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) were both held at the same venue, with the Rally moving outwards around the city for the stages proper.
Even with a raft of changes to the qualifying format, the WTCC delivered a strong sense of deja vu . SEAT locked out the top five positions in qualifying, leaving both BMW and Chevrolet trailing. It was 2008 champion Yvan Muller who snatched pole, and he capitalised on that in the race as he stormed to victory in the first race. The only SEAT to fall back from the starting quintuple was that of Tiago Monteiro, as he slid through the pack. Three time champion Andy Priaulx faired poorly through the weekend, he qualified tenth, and failed to capitalise on the eighth place for the reverse grid in race two. That was until both Nicole Larini and Tiago Monteiro were issued with post race drive through penalties for breaches of regulations, which as a result meant 30 seconds was added to their race times. Priaulx benefited from now starting race two on the front row, but he again could not capitalise as the Brazilian weather turned, and rain fell heavily in the build up to the race. Priaulx challenged the race leader Felix Porteiro in the early laps, and looked as though he may make the pass, but after an unsuccessful attempt, he dropped back considerably. To re-emphasise the deja vu from 2008, Gabriele Tarquini took the race two victory as the SEATs appeared to have the perfect wet set-up. However, it was BMW's Jorg Muller who was the fastest man in the race overall, he moved through from 20th to 5th.
The IRC had concluded its weekend's running prior tot he WTCC getting under way, and it was a good weekend for Britain after all, with Colin McRae's protégé Kris Meeke took the victory. He dominated the first leg on Friday with seven wins from seven stages, and ended the day with a substantial gap to second placed, 2007 champion, Giandomenico Basso. However on the second leg, last years champion, Nicolas Vouilloz, overhauled Basso for second place. Neither could do anything about Meeke, as he closed out to secure the victory. The general opinion was of great approval of the Rally, in the quality of the stages, the organisation and the overall atmosphere. Some of the WRC events could benefit from studying how this event was run, and implement the ideas themselves.
The WRC has an opportunity to impress next weekend, as the Rally of Cyprus will be held in Limassol from the 13th to the 15th March 2009.
Results
Touring Cars
WTCC
Race 1 Final Positions (Top 10)
1. Yvan Muller
2. Jordi Gene
3. Rickard Rydell
4. Gabriele Tarquini
5. Augusto Farfus
6. Sergio Hernandez
7. Andy Priaulx
8. Felix Porteiro
9. Tom Coronel
10. Alessandro Zanardi
Race 2 Final Positions (Top 10)
1. Gabriele Tarquini
2. Rickard Rydell
3. Jordi Gene
4. Yvan Muller
5. Jorg Muller
6. Augusto Farfus
7. Felix Porteiro
8. Tom Coronel
9. Andy Priaulx
10. Sergio Hernandez
Driver Standings
1. Yvan Muller 15 Pts
1= Gabriele Tarquini 15 Pts
3. Jordi Gene 14 Pts
3= Rickard Rydell 14 Pts
5. Augusto Farfus 7 Pts
6. Jorg Muller 4 Pts
7. Sergio Hernandez 3 Pts
7= Felix Porteiro 3 Pts
9. Andy Priaulx 2 Pts
10. Tom Coronel 1 Pts
Manufacturer Standings
1. SEAT 36 Pts
2. BMW 22 Pts
3. LADA 10 Pts
4. CHEVROLET 9 Pts
Rallying
IRC
Final Positions (Top 10)
1. Kris Meeke
2. Nicolas Vouilloz
3. Giandomenico Basso
4. Freddy Loix
5. Alejandro Cancio
6. Raul Martinez
7. Gustavo Saba
8. Sebastian Abramian
9. Rafael Túlio
10. Luis Tedesco
Driver Standings
1. Freddy Loix 13 Pts
2. Sebastien Ogier 10 Pts
2= Giandomenico Basso 10 Pts
2= Kris Meeke 10 Pts
5. Nicolas Vouilloz 8 Pts
6. Stephane Sarrazin 6 Pts
7. Jan Kopecky 5 Pts
8. Alejandro Cancio 4 Pts
9. Frederic Romeyer 3 Pts
9= Rafael Tulio 3 Pts
10. Luis Tedesco 2 Pts
10= Olivier Burri 2 Pts
Manufacturer Standings
1. Peugeot 36 Pts
2. Abarth 12 Pts
3. Skoda 8 Pts
4. Mitsubishi 5 Pts
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