Jordi Gene ensured it would be a perfect weekend for the SEAT Leon TDI after sweeping to victory at Monza from seventh place on the grid, while his team-mate Yvan Muller and Andy Priaulx head to the Macau finale tied at the head of the table.
A typically close race indicative of the legendary Italian circuit, it was another dismal race for both Priaulx and BMW as the powerful diesel fuelled Leon's one again proved to be the car to beat on Monza's long straights.
Rob Huff started the race from pole position having finished eighth in the first race and although he started alongside the typically fast starting BMW of Augusto Farfus, the Brazilian did not get away well and could only slot in behind the Chevrolet heading into the tight first corner.
Unlike the first race, the drivers kept their cars pointing in the right direction, save for a bit of panel bashing as the 26-car field squeezed through the tight first chicane.
Unusually though, it was the innocuous Curva Grande that instead prompted the most significant moment of the race when Farfus was tagged by Gabriele Taqruini and spent spearing off to the right, hitting the barrier hard and then slicing through the mid-field again and onto the other side of the circuit, thudding the Armco head-on.
Remarkably, the Brazilian hit not one of the 20-strong field that were making their way through the high-speed bend without the expectation of having a BMW spin across their bows.
There was more drama at the Variante della Roggia when Luca Rangoni and Felix Porteiro came together and slid into the gravel trap, the former seeing a major blow to his Independent Trophy aspirations in the process.
Back at the front, Huff continued to lead from Gene, the Spaniard getting a superb start to jump from seventh on the grid to second, while his TDI team-mate Tarquini, slightly bruised from his contact with Farfus, slotted in behind him at the end of the first lap. Nicola Larini, Alain Menu, James Thompson, Tom Coronel and race one winner Muller followed closely.
In all, five cars would fail to make the end of the lap, with Rangoni and Farfus being joined by Maurizio Ceresoli, Oscar Nogues and, most significantly, Priaulx, the Brit having been hit again by another driver on the first lap and damaging his car enough to warrant his retirement for a badly timed double non-finish.
British hopes were instead in the hands of Huff at the front, but he seemingly did not have ultimate pace as cars stacked up behind him, the hue of SEAT yellow and Chevrolet blue together with a dash of scarlet Alfa Romeo providing a colourful scene as they broke out of one another's slipstream down the home straight.
Indeed, the order was a constantly changing one, with Larini moving up to second place, before losing it again to Gene, before then sweeping into the lead from third at the start of lap three as Huff moved over the let the Italian lunge through. Huff would end the lap third though when Gene nonetheless muscled his way through more decisively. It wasn't all good news for SEAT though after Tarquini slowed into retirement soon after.
By the end of lap three, Larini led and was no doubt fancying his chances of finally breaking his Chevrolet duck on home soil, while Gene was second, Huff third, Thompson fourth and Muller now up to fifth, the Frenchman keeping a watching brief behind the top four.
Larini's hopes however were dashed when he failed to break the tow to the rapid SEAT behind him, Gene pulling alongside and moving through into the lead of the race.
From here, the Spaniard would not be beaten, failing to pull away but holding the gap back to Larini by a steady margin nonetheless right to the chequered flag to record only his third career WTCC victory and end the weekend with the most points of any driver. He also becomes the 11th different driver in 20 races to win this season.
Larini resumes his place as the lead Chevrolet in the standings with his fifth podium finish of the season, the Italian having to fend off the challenges of James Thompson in the final laps, the Brit achieving his aim of keeping both himself and Alfa Romeo in the title hunt with a second podium and an eighth straight points finish.
Huff held on for a solid fourth place, his cause aided when team-mate Menu retired in mid-way through the race meaning he would not have to play the team game. The Swiss driver's relatively slim title hopes are over now though.
Muller was a lonely fifth, the former British Champion happy with the four points he would gain for moving to the head of the leaderboard for the first time this year with only two races at Macau remaining.
The final points positions went to Alex Zanardi after a brilliant battle with Coronel, the duo tussling throughout the race to cross the line in tandem sixth and seventh. Tiago Monteiro was another driver worthy of a mention after finishing eighth having started at the back of the field.
In the Independent Trophy, Pierre-Yves Corthals scored a victory to extend his lead in the standings to 13 points over Stefano D'Aste, who finished second. Rangoni's retirement leaves him third, 20 points behind the Belgian driver.
In the overall standings, things are not as tight as they were in 2006 when nine drivers went to the final round with the chance of claiming the title. Nonetheless, six drivers are still in with a shout heading to the legendary – and very unpredictable – Macau circuit, plus there is a representative from each manufacturer too.
BMW's Priaulx and SEAT's Muller lead the way on 81 points, the Brit slightly ahead by virtue of having more second place finishes as each have two wins to their name. They in turn have a comfortable lead over Farfus in third, the Brazilian ten points behind on 71 points.
Other outsiders include Alfa Romeo's Thompson in fourth on 69 points, while Jorg Muller – who failed to score in either race this weekend – has 66 points. Finally, Chevrolet's Larini can also mathematically win the title – but with 61 points to his name, he needs to win both races and hope all five of his competitors retire somehow. Then again, Macau has thrown up similar surprises before...
