Curitiba (Brazil)/Ulm; March 3, 2008 – At the end of the inaugural competition of the 2008 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season, Yvan Muller heads the leader board. The French driver won the first race in Brazil’s Curitiba in his SEAT. The winner in the second race was birthday boy Gabriele Tarquini (Italy), also for the Spanish brand. LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler was happy with its debut among the world’s best.
The first two races in the 2008 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in Brazil’s Curitiba played out as hoped for team boss Kurt Treml and driver Franz Engstler, and for the team’s Russian driver Andrei Romanov. “Both the cars and circuits were new to us drivers and to the whole crew, but we still showed that we can keep up with the world’s elite,” said Engstler. He stressed that this was also thanks to the well-oiled team and the skill of every one of its members.
The driver from Germany’s Allgäu region came third in the first race in Brazil and fourth in the second round in the Independents’ Trophy, and will be heading to the next race in Mexico with 11 points under his belt. The next race is scheduled for April 6 in Puebla. The Independents winner in both races was Olivier Tielemans from the Netherlands who drives for Wiechers-Sport. Last year’s world champion among the independent drivers was Stefano D’Aste (Italy) who picked up 14 points, but entered the season with -2 as mandated by the regulations.
Romanov took the checkered flag in fourth and sixth place, collecting eight more points for LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler.
With 19 points after the first races, the Allgäu-based team is now in third place in the teams table, behind Proteam Motorsport (25 points) with D’Aste and Spanish driver Sergio Hernandez, and the Wiechers-Sport team (20 points).
“The races in Brazil went according to plan. We wanted both BMW E90s to cross the finish line in both races, and we achieved that,” said a relieved team manager Kurt Treml. “We gained plenty of experience and now we'll be heading to Mexico feeling a lot more relaxed,” he added.
Around 30,000 spectators gathered on race day to cheer the WTCC drivers on. The emotionally charged atmosphere didn’t leave the teams unaffected either, and made the race a worthy start to the 2008 World Touring Car Championship.