The 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Japan (formally the 2009 FIA WTCC Kenwood Race of Japan) was the eleventh round of the 2009 World Touring Car Championship season and the second running of the FIA WTCC Race of Japan. It was held on 1 November 2009 at the Okayama International Circuit near Mimasaka, Japan. The two races were won by BMW drivers Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus. The race was supported by the 2009 1000 km of Okayama, the inaugural event of the Asian Le Mans Series.

Background Gabriele Tarquini arrived in Japan with a seven-point lead over SEAT Sport teammate Yvan Muller. BMW Team Germany driver Augusto Farfus was the only other driver that could still win the title. He was eighteen points behind Tarquini.

SUNRED Engineering placed Japanese-based Brazilian João Paulo de Oliveira in their third car for the race, taking it over from Andrea Larini. Japanese drivers Seiji Ara and Nobuteru Taniguchi also made their championship debuts, for Wiechers-Sport and Proteam Motorsport respectively, while Masaki Kano returned to Liqui Moly Team Engstler, the team with which he made his series debut in 2008. Macau's Henry Ho also drove for Engstler, making his series debut. Independent SEAT drivers Marin Čolak and Mehdi Bennani did not travel to Japan, while Fabio Fabiani did not follow-up his one-off drive for Proteam at the previous race in Italy.

Report

Testing and free practice Yvan Muller was quickest in Friday's test session, ahead of Farfus and the SEAT trio of Tiago Monteiro, Rickard Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini.

Farfus set the fastest time in Saturday morning's free practice session, ahead of fellow BMW driver Andy Priaulx and SEAT drivers Jordi Gené, Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro. Stefano D'Aste crashed ten minutes into the session, bringing out the red flags and stopping the session.

Farfus was also the quickest in the second practice session, ahead of BMW Team Germany teammate Jörg Müller and his namesake Yvan. Robert Huff for Chevrolet and Tarquini were fourth and fifth quickest.

Qualifying Tarquini took his third straight pole position and his fifth of the season in the qualifying session. He will start ahead of Priaulx, Jörg Müller, Rydell and Farfus. Yvan Muller will start in seventh place. Tom Coronel was the quickest of the Independent runners.

Warm-Up Farfus set the quickest time in the Sunday morning warm-up, ahead of Gené, Jörg Müller, Rickard Rydell and Tiago Monteiro.

Race One

A heavy downfall of rain before the first race meant that the field began behind the safety car. The safety car came in at the end of the first lap, with polesitter Tarquini leading the pack. However, he drifted wide at Turn 2 through the gravel trap. This left Priaulx to lead until the end of the race, despite pressure from BMW teammate Jörg Müller. Despite dropping back after his off-track excursion, Tarquini came back through the field to finish in fifth behind Huff and Yvan Muller, ahead of SEAT teammates Gené and Monteiro. Farfus had gone off at the same time as Tarquini on lap 3, but he fought his way through to finish eighth and securing pole position for Race Two after pushing Alain Menu wide on the penultimate lap, continuing his habit this season off recovering from early Race One incidents to finish eighth and start Race Two on pole. Coronel took the Independents' class victory.

Race Two

Race Two began with Jörg Müller starting quickly, causing a bunch-up at Turn 1 that resulted in Müller spinning Monteiro off the track. Tarquini joined him in running off, although he was able to rejoin the circuit. Müller received a drive-through penalty for causing the incident. Many other drivers ran wide at Turn 2 in the treacherous conditions. Farfus lead Priaulx home to give another one-two finish for BMW, ahead of Yvan Muller. The three Chevrolets finished next, with Menu ahead of Nicola Larini and Huff. Gené and Rydell sacrificed their positions on the last lap to give teammate Tarquini a seventh-place finish. D'Aste took the Independents' win, finishing tenth overall

Results

Qualifying Name Team Car Q1 Q2 1 2 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.168 1:37.666 2 6 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 1:38.117 1:37.716 3 7 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:37.914 1:37.726 4 3 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.149 1:37.799 5 8 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 1:38.323 1:37.826 6 4 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.017 1:37.835 7 1 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.255 1:37.978 8 5 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 1:38.202 1:38.119 9 11 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:38.900 1:38.620 10 12 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:38.460 1:39.110 11 10 Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:39.043 12 21 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 1:39.078 13 36 James Thompson LADA Sport Lada Priora 1:39.106 14 14 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 1:39.126 15 23 Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 1:39.159 16 9 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 1:39.186 17 27 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 1:39.395 18 49 Nobuteru Taniguchi Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 1:39.469 19 18 Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport Lada Priora 1:39.498 20 50 Seiji Ara Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 1:39.549 21 47 João Paulo Lima de Oliveira SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 1:39.643 22 25 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 1:39.672 23 22 Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 1:39.823 24 26 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 1:40.112 25 19 Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport Lada Priora 1:40.786 26 51 Henry Ho Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 1:41.536 27 48 Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 1:42.427

Race 1 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 6 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 16 32:18.887 2 10 2 7 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +0.484 3 8 3 11 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +2.552 9 6 4 1 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +12.066 7 5 5 2 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +15.757 1 4 6 4 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +17.131 6 3 7 5 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 16 +18.693 8 2 8 8 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 16 +25.403 5 1 9 12 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +28.163 10 10 21 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 +30.133 12 11 36 James Thompson LADA Sport Lada Priora 16 +30.693 13 12 14 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 16 +32.217 14 13 18 Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport Lada Priora 16 +40.278 19 14 23 Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 16 +50.587 15 15 9 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 16 +55.891 16 16 19 Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport Lada Priora 16 +57.180 25 17 50 Seiji Ara Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 16 +58.480 20 18 22 Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 +1:05.796 23 19 26 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 16 +1:09.905 24 20 49 Nobuteru Taniguchi Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 16 +1:15.829 18 21 48 Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 16 +1:28.415 27 22 51 Henry Ho Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 16 +1:53.615 26 23 47 João Paulo Lima de Oliveira SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 16 1:59.405 21 24 27 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 15 +1 Lap 17 25 3 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 14 +2 Laps 4 Ret 25 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 3 Wheel damage 22 Ret 10 Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 2 Race incident 11 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Augusto Farfus BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 14 26:55.015 1 10 2 6 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320si 14 +0.761 8 8 3 1 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 14 +3.298 5 6 4 12 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 14 +5.878 9 5 5 14 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 14 +13.725 27 4 6 11 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze LT 14 +17.538 6 3 7 2 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 14 +24.104 4 2 8 3 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 14 +26.212 24 1 9 4 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 14 +27.272 3 10 27 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 14 +35.619 23 11 23 Félix Porteiro Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 14 +36.900 13 12 10 Sergio Hernández BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 14 +37.866 26 13 21 Tom Coronel SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 14 +41.110 10 14 22 Tom Boardman SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 14 +58.394 17 15 25 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 14 +1:03.206 25 16 7 Jörg Müller BMW Team Germany BMW 320si 14 +1:07.306 7 17 9 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320si 14 +1:10.579 14 18 50 Seiji Ara Wiechers-Sport BMW 320siY 14 +1:18.816 16 19 47 João Paulo Lima de Oliveira SUNRED Engineering SEAT León 2.0 TFSIY 14 +1:19.317 21 20 48 Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 14 +1:40.690 20 Ret 18 Jaap van Lagen LADA Sport Lada Priora 9 Engine 12 Ret 36 James Thompson LADA Sport Lada Priora 8 Anti–mist failure 11 Ret 51 Henry Ho Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 6 Race incident 22 Ret 26 Kristian Poulsen Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 6 Race incident 18 Ret 49 Nobuteru Taniguchi Scuderia Proteam Motorsport BMW 320siY 3 Race incident 19 Ret 5 Tiago Monteiro SEAT Sport SEAT León 2.0 TDI 0 Race incident 2 DNS 19 Kirill Ladygin LADA Sport Lada Priora 0 Engine 15 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Gabriele Tarquini 115 2 Yvan Muller 113 3 Augusto Farfus 102 4 Andy Priaulx 84 1 5 Robert Huff 69

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Tom Coronel 212 2 Félix Porteiro 182 1 3 Stefano D'Aste 137 1 4 Franz Engstler 132 5 Tom Boardman 87

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 SEAT 289 2 BMW 286 3 Chevrolet 193 4 Lada 81

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

External links

Results Booklet PDF at MST Systems