Tarquini wins Curitiba race two
| By Steven English |
Sunday, March 7th 2010, 18:59 GMT |
 Reigning world champion Gabriele Tarquini won today's second World Touring Car race at Curitiba, leading team-mate Jordi Gene home for a comfortable SEAT 1-2.
Gene leapt ahead of pole-sitter Tom Coronel off the line, with the Dutchman then spinning out of the race at the second corner following contact with Rob Huff.
Andy Priaulx's race was also short-lived as he had to limp back to the pits with damage to the front right of his BMW after clashing with Tarquini at Turn 1.
That meant that despite starting fifth, Tarquini only had to jump Augusto Farfus to slot in behind his team-mate. He duly did so, and then slipped inside Gene at Turn 1 on the third lap to take the lead - with Gene offering zero resistence.
The two SEATs pulled well clear, leaving the Chevrolets of Huff, Alain Menu and Yvan Muller, and the BMW of Farfus to contest the final podium place.
Huff ran wide and lost out to both of his team-mates, and then spent the rest of the race defending from Farfus as Menu and Muller pulled clear. Menu kept Muller at arm's length throughout to take his second podium of the day.
Huff held Farfus at bay to hold onto fifth, with Tiago Monteiro, Michel Nykjaer, Norbert Michelisz and Sergio Hernandez rounding out the top 10. Nykjaer took the prize for top rookie and Hernandez was top independent.
The race's only retirements were Priaulx, who never reappeared from his garage after the first lap, and Coronel who eventually surrendered after rejoining the race a couple of times. Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 20m13.311s
2. Jordi Gene SEAT +1.276
3. Alain Menu Chevrolet +5.407
4. Yvan Muller Chevrolet +5.985
5. Rob Huff Chevrolet +8.295
6. Augusto Farfus BMW +8.596
7. Tiago Monteiro SEAT +10.419
8. Michel Nykjaer SEAT +11.808
9. Norbert Michelisz SEAT +17.576
10. Sergio Hernandez BMW +24.244
11. Franz Engstler BMW +24.643
12. Mehdi Bennani BMW +30.072
13. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet +30.923
14. Fredy Barth SEAT +39.780
15. Stefano D'Aste BMW +40.328
16. Darryl O'Young Chevrolet +40.481
Not classified
Tom Coronel SEAT 1 lap
Andy Priaulx BMW 0 laps
Andrei Romanov BMW DNS
Fastest lap, Tarquini 1m25.803s
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