Nonetheless, despite being overshadowed by the new arrival, the comparatively dated Toledo continued to make its presence felt among the BMWs and Alfa Romeos, with a strong points haul in both races. It was a particularly good performance from Rickard Rydell who battled his way up from sixth on the grid to finish an impressive second place, while Peter Terting secured fifth, while newcomer Stéphane Ortelli in the Oreca run car was an excellent sixth on his debut.
The healthy points scoring means that SEAT have moved significantly closer to Alfa Romeo in the manufacturers standings, even if they are still a little way off to be putting pressure on their rivals, while Rydell has risen to sixth in the drivers standings and is well on course to finish as the teams highest placed driver in championship since their introduction three years ago.
Turkey though represents a far tougher challenge for the SEAT squad, as both the Toledo and Léon are commonly known to be down on power compared to their rivals. Their steady progress through the year also means that they will be carrying ballast, potentially dropping them into the clutches of the mid-field rather than giving them the opportunity to fight for a podium. Nonetheless, with a new track to learn, SEAT could yet spring a surprise on their rivals and if luck comes there way, they could close that gap to Alfa Romeo even more.
Chevrolet continued their steady progress in Germany with yet another point’s finish, courtesy of Alain Menu in the second race grabbing eighth place. However, save for Menu’s strong performance in both races, the weekend proved something of a struggle for Nicola Larini and Rob Huff with a best of 17th and 23rd in the first race, even if 11th and 12th in the second signalled something of an improvement for both drivers.
![Alex Zanardi leads at the start at Oschersleben [Pic credit: FIA WTCC]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/167257.jpg)
