Rydell: “We thought we had the car to beat”

Rickard Rydell took his first win of the season at Puebla, Mexico, yesterday and went in to a joined championship lead with team mate Yvan Muller. But the Swede admits he thought SEAT would have a bigger advantage over BMW.
”We thought that the SEAT would be the car to beat. Since our last visit the circuit offered much more grip and our advantage had disappeared,” said Rydell.

But despite the unexpected strength of the BMW’s, SEAT won both races of which Rydell won the first.

”Fantastic! It’s important always to score many points in a championship like the WTCC but to win is something special,” said Rydell.

Rydell started fourth, but managed to pass team mate Gabriele Tarquini and the BMW’s of Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx on the first lap in the first race.

“I went on the outside in the first corner and came out second, just behind Farfus. He made a small mistake, enough to give me the opportunity to pass. I knew that I had to take the lead early in the race if I should have a chance to win. The BMWs are really strong at the end of the races which we saw today”, said Rydell.

Just as last year, SEAT has won all four races of the World Touring Car Championship season so far.

“It’s great for all in the team to have won the first four races of the season,” said Rydell.