ADVAN / MOTOR SPORTS [WTCC 2008 / Round 1 and 2]

The pinnacle of touring car races of the world, The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), had its opening round at Curitiba Circuit, Brazil, which received the honor for the second consecutive year.

In addition to the regular contenders, BMW, SEAT and Chevrolet, the N.Technology team switched its championship challenger to a Honda Accord for the 2008 season. But the Italian outfit was forced to skip the opening round in Curitiba because of the delay in their car preparation, and will perticipate in the next event in Mexico. The Russian manufacturer, LADA, plans to come aboard in Spain when the championship comes back to Europe, after their eleventh hour announcement that they would enter the series.

The curtain raiser of the 2008 season was broadcast on TV all over the world and attracted much attention from the fans. The basic format of the event remains the same. One event consists of two races, approximately thirty minutes each. Race 1 starts with a rolling start and Race 2 with a standing start. The reverse grid system for the top eight finishers of Race 1 also continues.

However, the weight handicap system was changed for the new season and renamed "Success Ballast." In this system, each competitor has to carry 1kg of ballast for each championship point he/she has earned during the season and on the top of that, additional ballast according to the results from the last event (two races) to be added only for the next event. The maximum total weight of the ballasts is limited to 70kg.

Therefore, according to the rules, all cars had no extra ballast in the opening event at Curitiba. This meant that we could see the true performance of each competitor without being "handicapped" by extra ballast.

Ivan Muller, driving a SEAT Leon TDI, sat on the pole position for Race 1 by registering the fastest time in the qualifying session on Saturday and twenty cars followed to form the starting grid on Sunday, March 2nd, under a bright and clear sky. The formation included Alan Menu's Chevrolet Lacetti which had to be repaired after a serious crash in the qualifying session.

Following the rolling lap, Race 1 started at 13:20. Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT), the fourth fastest driver in the QF, made a good start and passed Augusto Farfus (BMW) who was in third. The Italian's move made up a 1-2-3 formation of the diesel powered SEAT Leons.

On Lap 3, Nicola Larini and Rob Huff, teammates from Chevrolet, contacted with each other and the former's car halted along the track, which brought out the Safety Car on the next lap.

After the race resumed on Lap 6, Farfus and reigning champion Andy Priaulx picked up their pace and these BMW drivers started to push their rivals hard.

Although both Farfus and Priaulx managed to gain on the leaders, it wasn't enough to beat the leading two SEATs driven by Muller and Rickard Rydell. Consequently, the first race of the season was won by the SEAT Leon TDIs, the same cars that set the pace for the second part of the 2007 season, in a 1-2 formation.

The third place finisher, Farfus, was excluded from the results of Race 1 after a technical breach was found on his car, though it was considered that there was no fraudulent intent from the team.

Race 2 started at 15:20. Tarquini made a splendid getaway from the third grid and led the race by showing the straightaway speed of the turbo diesel car. The leading pack was formed by the Italian and two BMW drivers, Felix Porteiro in second and Priaulx in third.

The battle between them intensified in the latter part of the race. Priaulx overtook Porteiro at Turn 2 in Lap 9 and then started to push the race leader, Tarquini. The Guernsey man actually managed to put his BMW on the side of the leading SEAT on the straightaway for a few times, but the Italian veteran skillfully defended his position.

After a thrilling bumper to bumper battle, Tarquini never yielded and took the checkered flag of Race 2 and completed SEAT's total domination in the opening event of the season.