Tarquini wins in second Curitiba race

Gabriele Tarquini has taken the victory in the second race at Curitiba in Brazil. Just like in the first race there were four SEAT’s at the front of the field. Although the first two rows on the grid were taken by BMW’s, they were unable to play a big part in this race. Best BMW driver was Jörg Müller, who finished in fifth, despite starting from 20th on the grid.

Due to heavy rain ahead of the start the race started behind the safety car. After two laps the field was released, although Marin Colak already stranded alongside the track.

At the start Félix Porteiro, who started from pole position because of penalties issued after the first race, was well away. Augusto Farfus, starting from fourth, was under immediate pressure from Gabriele Tarquini and was overtaken going into the first corner.

A lap later Sergio Hérnandez takes a look at Priaulx, but as the BMW pair are more occupied with each other, Gabriele Tarquini sees his chance and overtakes them in one go to take second. A corner later Hérnandez pulls his overtaking attempt off and takes Priaulx.

Priaulx continues to struggle in the wet, and has to let Augusto Farfus passed a little later.

At the start of lap 5 Gabriele Tarquini takes the lead by overtaking Porteiro. Right behind him both Coronel and Priaulx miss the first corner and drive through the gravel trap, but both can recover without losing places.

A lap later Sergio Hérnandez takes over second position from Felix Porteiro. The first corner was a popular place for overtaking, because both Rydell and Gené pass Farfus there, and Coronel takes over Andy Priaulx’ spot.

A corner later Rydell already caught Porteiro and has no trouble in overtaking him. On the same lap Porteiro looses more places to Yvan Muller and Augusto Farfus.

At the start of lap 7 the first corner is stage for another overtaking, as Rickard Rydell takes over second place from Sergio Hérnandez. A bit later Hérnandez also has to make room for Jordi Gené.

Hérnandez almost got his place back from Gené, as the SEAT driver missed the first corner on lap 8, but going through the gravel trap Gené can continue without much time lost.

Instead, Sergio Hérnandez is being overtaken by Yvan Muller and at the end of the lap the Spaniard makes a small mistake, allowing his team mate Farfus to get passed going into the first corner.

Things got even worse for Hérnandez when Félix Porteiro makes an enthusiastic move on him and is put into a spin. He rejoins in tenth place.

On lap 11 Coronel misses the first corner again, but just like the first time he doesn’t lose any places. A nice battle starts between Augusto Farfus and Félix Porteiro, as they drive side by side for four corners.

In the mean time Jörg Müller has worked his way up from 20th on the grid, and on lap 12 he gets passed Tom Coronel for seventh place. Two laps later he gets passed Porteiro and Farfus as well and sets the fastest lap in the process.

Gabriele Tarquini doesn’t get into any trouble anymore and can drive easily to his first victory of the season.

The three Chevrolet’s couldn’t make a big impression during the second race. All drivers finished outside the top ten, with Menu in eleventh as best. The only positive point from race two was that Alain Menu set the fastest time on the last lap.