After last week’s event in Brands Hatch, WTCC competitors face a long Summer break, as the championship will only resume in six week for rounds 17 and 18 that will be held on September 6th at Oschersleben, Germany.
With 16 races in the archives and 8 to go, the championship fight is wide open.
SEAT Sport’s reigning world champion Yvan Muller leads the drivers‘ classification with 82 points. The Frenchman scored only two points in Brands Hatch and saw the closest rivals – his team-mate Gabriele Tarquini and BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus – reducing their gap to 5 and six points respectively.
With 80 points still at stake, four other men may also have a shot at the title: Rickard Rydell (54 pts), Robert Huff (53), Jörg Müller (52) and Andy Priaulx (48).
In the Manufacturers‘ Championship only 10 points separate the leader SEAT from BMW.
After Brands Hatch the FIA WTCC faces a six-week Summer break
FIRST VICTORY FOR TOM BOARDMAN
In Brands Hatch’s Race 2, Tom Boardman claimed his first victory since he joined the WTCC’s Independents‘ Trophy.
The Englishman took advantage of home soil and fought on equal ground with the trophy’s leading drivers: Tom Coronel, Félix Porteiro and Stefano D’Aste.
After finishing third in Race 1, behind D’Aste and Coronel, Boardman posted a perfect performance to win the second race from Coronel and D’Aste, becoming the fifth winner in the trophy so far during the current season.
"When I joined WTCC I expected it to be easier. It has been a tough season but we have been learning and finally everything is in place. I am so relieved I can fight with the leaders!" said Boardman.
Porteiro is still leading the classification, but Coronel reduced the gap to 16 points, while Franz Engstler lies third a further 25 points behind.
FIA COURT RULED ON SEAT’S APPEAL
At the beginning of the WTCC season, the FIA Touring Car Bureau adopted a number of decisions concerning the technical configurations of the cars entered in the championship, including two decisions limiting the maximum supercharged air pressure for all SEAT León TDI cars (Decision no. 5 of 24 February 2009 and Decision no. 22 of 21 May 2009).
On 25 May 2009, SEAT Sport submitted a request to the World Motor Sport Council to cancel these two decisions.
On 24 June 2009, the WMSC rejected the request submitted by SEAT Sport, a decision that was appealed by SEAT Sport.
Ruling on the appeal lodged by the Spanish National Authority on behalf of SEAT Sport, the FIA International Court of Appeal, declared the appeal inadmissible.
HUFF HELPED PAINTING HIS OWN CAR
Last weekend, Ian Cook brought his own ‚Popbang Auto Art‘ touch to Brands Hatch.
The 25-year old artist from Birmingham created an image of Robert Huff’s WTCC Chevrolet Cruze in the main public area of the circuit, drawing crowds throughout the day. Unlike normal paintings, Ian uses remote control cars and old tyres to apply the paint to canvas, rather than a brush.
In order to make the Cruze image even more unique, Ian invited Huff to add his own personal touch. Huffy painted the lower front bumper and valance of the car using a scale replica of the ‚Bumblebee‘ Chevrolet Camaro, as featured in the movie Transformers 2, before signing it.
The finished image, which is over two metres wide, will go on display in the Chevrolet team hospitality unit for the next two WTCC meetings at Oschersleben and Imola.