Monday, 7th April 2008

After a strong showing in the first race, SEATs dominated the second race in Puebla – filling the top six positions - to maintain the Spanish marque's dominance of the second round of the World Touring Car Championship.

Rickard Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini battled for second position with the Swede eventually coming out on top after Tarquini ran wide on lap 14. Rydell had made another great start, coming up from seventh to fourth on the first lap, while Tarquini had jumped up to third at the getaway, running just ahead of eventual fourth-place finisher Yvan Muller. Rydell: “It's just great to be twice on the podium on the same day. I've been a bit faster than Gabriele and managed to take an excellent second position that makes me feel very happy.”

First race winner Jordi Gen้ took advantage of the problems for Menu and Chevrolet team-mate Nicola Larini - the latter failing to finish after his rear suspension collapsed following a collision with another car - to battle Muller for fifth position, but came off worse. While Muller then proceeded to overtake Menu, Gene had to wait for the Chevy driver's mistake to eventually claim a top five place.

Reigning champion Andy Priaulx was the top BMW runner, claiming a point in eighth place as he fought off Menu and Huff for most of the race. As has often been the case in Mexico, however, the BMWs struggled once again, and Priaulx was the only representative of the German manufacturer to score during the weekend: “I'm glad I tried out ice racing a couple of weeks ago as the track was as slippery as ever today.” The two-time champion commented, “Off the racing line you were simply left without a chance. The point I scored in race two was definitely the best ever, if you take the SEAT dominance into consideration.”

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Fellow Briton Huff had another eventful race as, after a poor start, he made his way back up to eighth, only to drop two places shortly afterwards. For the rest of the race, he battled with Priaulx and Menu and eventually finished just outside the points, in ninth.

Pierre-Yves Corthals won the Independents' class to add to his triumph in race one, and is now level on points with Stefano d'Aste, who finished behind him in 14th, and Olivier Tielemans, who had won both races in Brazil.

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