The tenth event of the WTCC (FIA World Touring Car Championship), the nineteenth and twentieth rounds, were held at the world-renowned high speed circuit, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy.

One of many appeals of the WTCC is its unpredictability. Thanks to the weight handicap system, it is always difficult to forecast the winner of each race.

Similar to other categories that adopt the same system, the top finishers have to carry the stipulated penalty weights according to the results from the previous race and some other requirements. In the case of the WTCC, the maximum weight for a car is 60kg and, for the event at Monza, as many as six drivers came up to the race carrying 60kg weights, including three title contenders, Andy Priaulx, Augusto Farfus Jr., both driving BMW, and Yvan Muller from the SEAT camp.

On Saturday, October 6th, the qualifying session was run on the dry conditions under a cloudy sky. In this session that the starting grids for Race 1 (the nineteenth round) on Sunday were decided, to everyone's surprise, the top three slots were occupied by SEATs. Furthermore, with Muller on the top of the time sheet, followed by Jordi Gene in second and Gabriele Tarquini in third, all of them were in diesel powered TDI models.

From this event, SEAT brought their third TDI car for Tarquini in addition to the two similar cars that were already run in previous events. The Italian drove the car for the first time in the SEAT Sport's private test at Catalonia last month and performed well in spite of driving the unfamiliar car.

On the next day, October 7th, Race 1 started. Many people anticipated the total domination by diesel powered cars. While the leading SEAT drivers maintained their positions from the start, James Thompson's Alfa Romeo 156, starting from the eighth grid, pursued them very hard on the home soil of the Italian marque. Eventually, he came up to the third position and continued to give chase to the leading SEATs' tail. But Muller and Gene firmly held their one-two formation until the end and the second win of the season by SEAT's TDI car was accomplished following the first one in the German round.

In this race, Luca Rangoni of Proteam Motorsport finished first in the independent class and was cheered by his home crowd on the podium. The team's BMWs have been equipped with the new alloy wheels, ADVAN Racing RS, supplied by YOKOHAMA since the event in Germany.

Race 2 (the twentieth round) started with the top eight finishers in reversed grids. The pole sitter was Rob Huff of Chevrolet and the runner-up in the drivers' championship, Farfus, started from the second grid. As the point leader Priaulx didn't finish the first race without adding any points, Farfus was keen to finish the second race in the upper ranks and regain the top slot of point standings.

However, as early as the opening lap of the race, Farfus's BMW was hit by Tarquini' SEAT and crashed heavily into the barrier, resulting in retirement. On top of this, Priaulx was also forced to retire soon after Farfus's accident, which turned out to be a nightmare for the BMW camp.

On the contrary, the SEATs were strong again. Particularly, the runner-up of Race 1, Gene, gradually moved up from the seventh and finally took over the leading position from Huff's Chevrolet. Gene eventually brought home his diesel powered car and took the checkered flag. This meant a double win by SEAT Leon TDIs at Monza.

Following the second-placer Nicola Larini of Chevrolet, Thompson got on the podium again by finishing in third, probably boosted by the support of many Alfistas among the crowd of 52,000 spectators.

As a result, Priaulx, who was leading the championship, had to leave Monza with no points in his pocket, which was totally unexpected. The standings after the Italian round have Priaulx and Yvan Muller tied in the top slot. Farfus follows with a ten point gap and Thompson is in fourth, two points behind the Brazilian.

The next event will be the final round of the series, the legendary Macau Grand Prix. Since the 2007 WTCC champion driver is to be decided there, the most prestigious event of the series shall be a match to watch.

Born in Bologna, Italy, September 23rd, 1968.
After starting to race in 1989, he competed in the Italian F2000 series from the following year. Then he stepped up to the Italian Formula Three Championship in 1993 and, two years later, scored five wins with a Dallara Fiat Abarth and took the title crown of the series. This led to a further step up for him to the FIA International F3000 Championship in 1996.
Since 1999, he had raced in the Renault Sport Clio International Trophy and reigned as the champion of the series four year running from 2000 to 2003. In 2004, he entered the antecedent category of the WTCC, the FIA Europe Touring Car Championship, with an Alfa Romeo. His best result of that year was seventh.
Since 2006, he has driven in the WTCC and stood on the podium at Valencia, Spain where he finished in second that year.

Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy)
About 20km north of Milan, Autodromo Nazionale Monza is renowned as the home of the F1 Italian Grand Prix. The total length of the permanent race track is 5,770m which is the second longest on the WTCC calendar after the temporary street course of Macau.
Monza is one of the world's fastest race tracks. For example, the fastest average speed in the qualifying lap of the last year's WTCC events was 174.53km/h which was marked by Yvan Muller (SEAT) at Monza and this was followed by 156.92km/h which Jorg Muller (BMW) registered at Critiba. The large gap between these two records tells the very high speed nature of Monza.
Since the days of the ETCC, BMW and the legendary Italian marque Alfa Romeo have been the main rivals of tin-top racing at Monza. Although the winners of this year's event were SEATs, James Thompson's Alfa Romeo finished in third in both races, receiving a loud cheer from local fans.