SEAT dominates with second consecutive World Touring Car Championship
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/motorsports/" rel="tag">Motorsports</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/china/" rel="tag">China</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/seat/" rel="tag">SEAT</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/diesel/" rel="tag">Diesel</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/#22"><img vspace="4" hspace="0" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/seat-leon-macau-webopt.jpg" /></a><br /> <small>SEAT World Touring Car Championship Team with the Leon TDI - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></em></strong></div>
<br /> If you would have told us ten or twenty years ago that diesel would come to dominate motor racing, we probably would have laughed in your face. But since Audi charted new territory by dominating Le Mans with its R10 TDI, the competition benefits of burning oil is beyond reproach. Not satisfied to let diesel power dominate endurance sportscar racing, however, sister company SEAT picked up the mantle last year in the World Touring Car Championship with the Leon TDI.<br /> <br /> As it turns out, running on diesel came to be a liability for SEAT as the WTCC reformatted the rules to reduce diesel's advantage. But the Sociedad Espa&ntilde;ola de Autom&oacute;viles de Turismo (Spanish Touring Car Company) pulled together, rallied its team and went on to dominate the World Touring Car Championship for the second year in the row, clinching all three of the series titles this past weekend in Macau - China's closest approximation of Monaco and the final round in the championship. <br /> <br /> SEAT won the manufacturers' title, outpacing rivals BMW by three small points and outshining Chevrolet (with their <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/04/cruze-contol-new-chevy-wtcc-car-takes-first-pole-double-victor/">new Cruze-based touring car</a>) and Lada. SEAT's main shoe, Gabriele Tarquini, clinched the drivers' title ahead of his teammate (and defending champion) Yvan Muller. As if that wasn't enough, privateer Tom Coronel drove his gasoline-powered Leon to secure the Independents Trophy as well, making it a resounding triple victory for SEAT and its WTCC crew. Details in the press release after the jump and photos in the high-res image gallery below.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/low/">SEAT Leon TDI at WTCC Macau</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/20601_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/20605_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/20608_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/20611_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/seat-leon-tdi-at-wtcc-macau/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/20614_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /> [Source: SEAT]<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/24/seat-dominates-with-second-consecutive-world-touring-car-champio/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>SEAT dominates with second consecutive World Touring Car Championship</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/24/seat-dominates-with-second-consecutive-world-touring-car-champio/">SEAT dominates with second consecutive World Touring Car Championship</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:31:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/24/seat-dominates-with-second-consecutive-world-touring-car-champio/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19252217/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/24/seat-dominates-with-second-consecutive-world-touring-car-champio/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

أكثر...