SEAT Take Maiden WTCC Win

Key to Rydell's victory was SEAT's regular BTCC driver Jason Plato. The Brit is only taking part in three WTCC races this season and helped Championship contender Rydell to victory by holding back when the safety car pulled in.

As the safety car pulled off, Rydell was just ahead of the fast starting Andy Priaulx, and third-place Plato backed the field up behind him to give Rydell and Priaulx a healthy breathing space at the restart.

Plato continued to hold off the rest of the pack while Rydell and Priaulx fought hard for the win. The race was only decided when Priaulx's right-front tyre punctured with three laps to go. Plato finished second.

"We really wanted to win a race early in the season," said Rydell. "I had some problems in qualifying, but I knew after the first race the car was good and if I just got a clean start I could win, but then Andy got the jump on us. I followed behind Andy and looked for a time to pass and managed it.

Plato said that SEAT got their tactics spot on.

"Myself and Rickard played a great game," said Plato. "I new I needed to give him the chance to have his own race. I didn't have the car the way I want. But I want to come back for more of this!"

Gabriele Tarquini finished third after being involved in a chain reaction accident that put teammate James Thompson in the gravel. Tarquini nudged SEAT's Peter Terting into Thompson, who went up on two wheels before spinning off.

"The race was too short," said Tarquini. "I lost a lot of time at the beginning and after the safety car. I was close to taking second place. We did a good team job today, but I was lucky for not going out with the crash with Terting and Thompson."

Augusto Farfus Jr finished fourth followed by Jordi Gene. Dirk Muller left Silverstone with some points after finishing sixth. Muller started race one after failing to post a time in qualifying.

WTCC Round 6 - Silverstone (Race 2) Results:

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver               Team                    Time/Gap
 1.  Rickard Rydell       SEAT Sport               21:43.465
 2.  Jason Plato          SEAT Sport               +   4.709
 3.  Gabriele Tarquini    Alfa Romeo Racing Team   +   5.049
 4.  Augusto Farfus jr.   Alfa Romeo Racing Team   +   5.557
 5.  Jordi Gene           SEAT Sport               +   6.712
 6.  Dirk Muller          BMW Team Deutschland     +   7.239
 7.  Jorg Muller          BMW Team Deutschland     +  14.616
 8.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Alfa Romeo Racing Team   +  19.599
 9.  Marc Hennerici       Wiechers-Sport           +  23.685
10.  Valle Makela         GR Asia                  +  23.973
11.  Giuseppe Ciro        Proteam Motorsport       +  24.464
12.  Carl Rosenblad       Crawford Racing          +  25.124
13.  Alain Menu           Chevrolet                +  25.422
14.  Tom Coronel          GR Asia                  +  27.095
15.  Adriano De Micheli   JAS Motorsport           +  27.140
16.  Peter Terting        SEAT Sport               +  27.627
17.  Thomas Jager         Ford Hotfiel Sport       +  31.330
18.  Thomas Klenke        Ford Hotfiel Sport       +  32.167
19.  Roberto Colciago     JAS Motorsport           +  49.941
20.  Andy Priaulx         BMW Team UK              +  3 Laps

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Driver               Team                     On Lap
     Stefano D'Aste       Proteam Motorsport         7
     James Thompson       Alfa Romeo Racing Team     5
     Antonio Garcia       BMW Team Italy-Spain       2
     Robert Huff          Chevrolet                  2
     
Fastest Lap: Andy Priaulx, 1:26.730 (lap 4)