Tarquini gets diesel for Monza

Tarquini tested with the car a couple of weeks ago, and since then he had been full of praise for the diesel, and he admitted that he hoped to be able to use it on home soil at Monza.

"Monza is my home race and I am very happy to be going there with the Leon TDI," he said. "For sure it will be better for us down the straights."

Tarquini also repeated his claim that he is no longer trying to win the world title for himself this year, despite now having what he believes is a faster car.

"I am 30 points behind in the drivers' standings with only 40 points available so it is too far, but there is still a very big job to do," he added.

"That is to try and help SEAT win the manufacturers' title and Yvan (Muller) win the drivers' championship. I am very focused on this race."

SEAT Sport race engineer Xavier Serra believes that there are positives and negatives to using the diesel at Monza.

"We have very high expectations for Monza," he said. "The diesel engine has allowed us to solve our lack of top speed, although this has introduced a new issue.

"The (extra) weight should penalise the braking department, so with the combination of petrol and diesel cars at Monza, we hope to cover all pros and cons of each car and score good points."

Reigning world champion Andy Priaulx has already said that he expects every manufacturer to run diesel engines in the future, and he believes that the decision by SEAT to give Tarquini the new engine proves that the engine is stronger.

"The fact that they now have Gabriele, Yvan, and Jordi (Gene) using the engine proves that it's their best option," the BMW driver told autosport.com.

"Their three best hopes for race wins now have it, so I can see them making up a lot of ground in the championship before the end of the season."