Gene wins race one for SEAT

"I needed a good result because we started the season quite well then we had a problem in Brands Hatch where the car was very good and competitive and I missed a lot of points, and then in Oschersleben again I missed a lot of points, so I was getting a bit disappointed," said Gene. "But this is a fantastic achievement so far."

Farfus had led away from pole, and pulled out a relatively comfortable advantage in the initial laps, although his progress was slightly interrupted by an early safety car to clear the cars of Lucas Molo and Maurizio Ceresoli, who had stopped at the first corner and next to the pit wall respectively.

But as the race went on, Gene's SEAT crept ever closer to the rear of Farfus' Alfa Romeo, and dragged teammate Peter Terting with him.

On lap 10, Gene dived inside a narrowing gap and grabbed the lead from Farfus, with Terting following through at the next corner.

"In the first laps I had no chance because Augusto was performing very well," said Gene. "So I stayed there for a few laps, taking care of my tyres, and tried to find a place where he was slower than me.

"I just saw a little gap, and I went in. I managed to get first position and from then on I could pull away."

After that Gene proved unstoppable, pulling away to win his second WTCC race by 1.675 seconds from Terting, who soon shook off Farfus.

The Brazilian held onto third, ahead of SEAT trio Gabriele Tarquini, James Thompson and Rickard Rydell.

The latter came under a great deal of pressure from Farfus' teammate Gianni Morbidelli, who passed champion Andy Priaulx early on but could not escape from the BMW. Morbidelli simultaneously attacked and defended during the final laps, and maintained seventh, with Priaulx earning race two pole for eighth.

Jorg Muller chased Priaulx home in ninth, with Alex Zanardi making up for a disastrous qualifying session by charging from last to 10th.

Ryan Sharp won the Independents' class in his JAS Honda, and beat pre-race joint championship leader Yvan Muller to 12th place overall after Muller's late move on Duncan Huisman failed to come off.

Tarquini and Thompson now share the points lead, at least for an hour until race two takes place.

Results

Pos  Driver               Make                      Time
 1.  Jordi Gene           SEAT Leon            26:02.194
 2.  Peter Terting        SEAT Leon            26:03.869    + 1.675
 3.  Augusto Farfus       Alfa Romeo 156       26:05.180    + 2.986
 4.  Gabriele Tarquini    SEAT Leon            26:05.900    + 3.706
 5.  James Thompson       SEAT Leon            26:06.532    + 4.338
 6.  Rickard Rydell       SEAT Leon            26:07.327    + 5.133
 7.  Gianni Morbidelli    Alfa Romeo 156       26:07.974    + 5.780
 8.  Andy Priaulx         BMW 320si            26:08.601    + 6.407
 9.  Jorg Muller          BMW 320si            26:09.070    + 6.876
10.  Alessandro Zanardi   BMW 320si            26:10.912    + 8.718
11.  Duncan Huisman       BMW 320si            26:15.075   + 12.881
12.  Ryan Sharp           Honda Accord Euro R  26:15.721   + 13.527
13.  Yvan Muller          SEAT Leon            26:16.178   + 13.984
14.  Tom Coronel          SEAT Leon            26:16.635   + 14.441
15.  Salvatore Tavano     Alfa Romeo 156       26:17.578   + 15.384
16.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Honda Accord Euro R  26:17.927   + 15.733
17.  Luca Rangoni         BMW 320si            26:17.929   + 15.735
18.  Robert Huff          Chevrolet Lacetti    26:18.241   + 16.047
19.  Alain Menu           Chevrolet Lacetti    26:19.629   + 17.435
20.  Dirk Muller          BMW 320si            26:23.648   + 21.454
21.  Emmet O'Brien        BMW 320i             26:29.024   + 26.830
22.  Diego Romanini       BMW 320i             26:53.232   + 51.038
     Not Classified
     Nicola Larini        Chevrolet Lacetti    17:38.730      D.N.F.
     Stefano D'Aste       BMW 320i             14:50.571      D.N.F.