Muller leads SEAT clean sweep

SEAT secured a 1-2-3 in the race and had five of their Leons in the top six positions as the rain fell hard throughout the race at the British circuit. It was also the first victory for the Spanish manufacturer this season.

Muller snatched the lead at the first corner from fourth on the grid, overtaking polesitter Rickard Rydell. He then survived challenges from teammates Peter Terting and James Thompson to hold onto victory, leading every lap.

Thompson, from sixth on the grid, worked his way up to second to challenge Muller and looked to have the quickest car, but a nudge from behind by Terting on the penultimate lap allowed the German to get back into second again and become Muller's main threat in the final moments.

However, the Frenchman was ready for Terting's advances, and remained calm to duly take his first victory of the season.

Muller was pleased to keep his teammates behind him despite carrying 45kg of succsess ballast.

"I knew the start would be very important in these conditions," Muller said.

"When I got into the front it was a big battle and hard for me to keep them behind me. With the weight I was a bit slow out of the corners so I just tried to be wide and keep them at the back.

"Even if I have a lot of victories in my career I haven't won any races in the WTCC so I needed to win one. It is good I take back the leadership of the championship with this win."

Thompson enjoyed his fight for third position: "It's fair to say there are no team orders in the SEAT camp. Starting sixth and getting up as high to second is a good performance. Third was probably the best I could have hoped for."

It would have been four Leons in the top four if it wasn't for the efforts of Chevrolet's Robb Huff, who scored his best ever WTCC result with fourth place. Having dropped down at the start to fifth, Huff muscled his way past the polesitter at the Druids Hairpin with three laps to go.

Rydell finished fifth, ahead of the fifth SEAT of Gabriele Tarquini who had moved up from eighth on the grid.

Alain Menu finished seventh, making it five former BTCC champions in the points.

Reigning world champion Andy Priaulx won a tremendous battle with BMW teammate Dirk Muller for eighth place - and pole position for today's second race thanks to the WTCC's top eight reverse grid rule.

Priaulx shadowed Dirk Muller for the first ten laps of the 14-lap encounter but was unable to find a way past despite running alongside at various points. However with four laps to go, Priaulx pulled himself alongside the German on the Brabham straight to take the position and pull away.

Results:

Pos  Driver                Make                       Time
 1.  Yvan Muller           SEAT Leon             24:04.470
 2.  Peter Terting         SEAT Leon               + 0.212
 3.  James Thompson        SEAT Leon               + 0.510
 4.  Robert Huff           Chevrolet Lacetti       + 0.677
 5.  Rickard Rydell        SEAT Leon               + 1.401
 6.  Gabriele Tarquini     SEAT Leon               + 6.616
 7.  Alain Menu            Chevrolet Lacetti       + 7.490
 8.  Andy Priaulx          BMW 320si               + 9.139
 9.  Dirk Muller           BMW 320si              + 17.462
10.  Alessandro Zanardi    BMW 320si              + 24.189
11.  Marcel Costa          BMW 320si              + 24.746
12.  Gianni Morbidelli     Alfa Romeo 156         + 26.658
13.  Tom Coronel           SEAT Leon              + 40.492
14.  Maurizio Ceresoli     SEAT Toledo Cupra      + 41.292
15.  Diego Romanini        BMW 320i               + 45.929
16.  Ryan Sharp            Honda Accord Euro R    + 46.188
17.  Pierre-Yves Corthals  Honda Accord Euro R    + 52.070
18.  Jordi Gene            SEAT Leon            + 1:41.043
19.  Stefano D'Aste        BMW 320i                + 1 LAP
20.  Luca Rangoni          BMW 320si               + 1 LAP
21.  Salvatore Tavano      Alfa Romeo 156          + 1 LAP
22.  Augusto Farfus        Alfa Romeo 156         + 3 LAPS
  Not Classified
     Jorg Muller           BMW 320si              D.N.F.
     Emmet O'Brien         BMW 320i               D.N.F.
     Nicola Larini         Chevrolet Lacetti      N.C.F.