The 2009 FIA WTCC Race of France was the fourth round of the

2009 World Touring Car Championship season 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

and the fifth running of the

FIA WTCC Race of France The FIA WTCR Race of France is a round of the World Touring Car Cup which was held at the Circuit Pau-Arnos in 2021 and at the Circuit de Pau-Ville in 2022. It was previously held at the Circuit Paul Ricard and the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. ...

. It was held on 17 May 2009 at the temporary

Circuit de Pau The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a Motorsport, motor race held in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to th ...

street circuit in Pau,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It was the headline event of the 2009

Pau Grand Prix The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurat ...

. Both races were won by

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

with

Robert Huff Robert Peter "Rob" Huff (born 25 December 1979) is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) driving for Zengő Motorsport. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the ...

winning race one and

Alain Menu Alain Menu (born 9 August 1963) is a Swiss racing driver who is currently working for Team BMR as a driving coach. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice ...

winning race two. The second race was notable for a collision between race leader

Franz Engstler Franz Engstler (born 25 July 1961) is a German auto racing driver. Racing career Born in Kempten im Allgäu, Engstler started racing in the European Hillclimbing Championship and the German Long Distance Cup, which he won. From 1988 he competed ...

and the safety car at the end of the first lap.

Background

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...

had established an outright lead in the drivers' championship after the previous round in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, twelve points clear of

SEAT Sport Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the miss ...

teammate

Gabriele Tarquini Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He ...

Félix Porteiro Félix Porteiro Pérez (born 26 August 1983 in Castellón) is a Spanish racing driver. He competed in GP2 in 2006 and 2007, his best finish was 4th in 2007. Racing career Single-seaters In 2001 Porteiro drove in the Spanish Formula Three Ch ...

was leading the

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Independents' Trophy.

SUNRED Engineering Sunred (short for ''Sun Race Engineering Development S.L.'') is a Spanish-based auto racing team and constructor. They are best known for competing in the World Touring Car Championship. Racing History While in the past Sunred had participated in ...

expanded to three cars for the Pau event,

Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race in 1997, th ...

was joined by Tom Boardman who returned after missing the previous round and former

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World T ...

driver

Éric Cayrolle Éric Cayrolle (born 27 August 1962 in Pau) is a French auto racing driver. Racing career He is a three-time champion of the French Supertouring Championship, winning for three consecutive years between 1996 and 1998. Prior to this he compete ...

. With both

George Tanev George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Preside ...

and

Vito Postiglione Vito Postiglione (born 28 February 1977 in Potenza) is an Italian racing driver. Racing career Postiglione won the Italian Renault Mégane Winter Trophy in 1998. He then finished runner-up in the main series in 1999. He went one better, winnin ...

being forced to miss the round,

Scuderia Proteam Motorsport Proteam Motorsport is an Italian auto racing team based in Arezzo that was set up by former driver Valmiro Presenzini in 1997. They are best known for their efforts in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Their time in the WTCC has seen them be ...

ran just one car for independents' championship leader Porteiro. Local

French GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

regular

Laurent Cazenave Laurent Cazenave (born 25 April 1978, in Pau) is a French auto racing driver. In 1997 he finished third in Class B of the French Formula Ford Championship. From there he switched to saloon car racing in 1999, with two years in the French Super Pr ...

joined

Wiechers-Sport Wiechers-Sport is a German auto racing team which is based in Nienburg. The team was first established in 1999, competing in German touring cars. The team currently competes in the World Touring Car Championship. World Touring Car Championship B ...

for the weekend alongside full-time driver

Stefano D'Aste Stefano D'Aste (born 26 February 1974 in Genoa) is an Italian auto racing driver. His early racing career included competing on motorcycles and the Monza International Rally. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2004 (wh ...

Report

Free practice

Jörg Müller Jörg Müller (, ; born 3 September 1969) is a Dutch-born German BMW factory driver. Racing career Born in Kerkrade, Netherlands, Müller won the titles in 1989 German Formula Opel Lotus Challenge and in 1989 European Formula Ford 1600. The 199 ...

was fastest in the first practice session,

Augusto Farfus Augusto Farfus Jr. (born 3 September 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He lives in Monaco. Early years Born in Curitiba, Farfus first tasted racing in minibike races and won the local championshi ...

was second and Yvan Muller was third.

was the fastest

driver in sixth. The petrol

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

cars were mainly faster than the

run diesel cars.

Marin Čolak Marin Čolak (born 4 March 1984 in Zagreb) is a Croatian auto racing driver. Career Early years He started racing in karting with much of his young career was spent in Germany, including Formula Renault 2.0 Germany and the German SEAT Leon Cupra ...

, Coronel and Boardman finished the session seventh, eighth and ninth ahead of

Jordi Gené Jordi Gené Guerrero (born 5 December 1970) is a racing driver who competed in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2010. His younger brother, Marc is also a ex-racing driver and is currently a Brand Ambassador for the Scuderia Ferr ...

Tiago Monteiro Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro (; born 24 July 1976) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently competing in the World Touring Car Cup, driving a Honda Civic TCR for Engstler Motorsport. He competed in Formula One between 2005 an ...

and

Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell (born 22 September 1967) is a retired Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car Champ ...

. BMW were quickest once again in free practice two,

Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE ( born 8 August 1974) is a British professional racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the FIA World Touring ...

was quickest for

BMW Team UK Racing Bart Mampaey (formerly Juma Racing) is a racing team based in Mechelen, Belgium that runs the BMW Team RBM operation in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Previously the team had been racing in the European Touring Car Championship and World ...

. He was ahead of morning pacesetters Müller and Farfus while Coronel in fourth was the fastest independent. Menu was fifth for Chevrolet and the fastest factory SEAT was Rydell fourteenth, one place behind the Lada of

Jaap van Lagen Jaap van Lagen (born 22 December 1976 in Ede) is a Dutch racing driver, who is a former competitor in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series and a former Eurocup Megane Trophy champion. He has also raced in the World Touring Car Championship. Racing c ...

Qualifying

Priaulx claimed his first pole position since the 2006 Guia Race of Macau. The BMW Team UK man was among the front runners during both practice sessions and qualifying and put in a time of 1:22.462 in Q2. He demoted BMW teammate Farfus by just 11 thousandths of a second. Coronel defied odds in taking part in Q2 after the front of his car was severely damaged in Q1. However, attention from his team and he lined up in third place. While it was a BMW at the top of the timesheet for the majority of the Q1, on the last lap Huff and Chevrolet stormed through with a 1:22.900 stealing the quickest time away from Priaulx by 0.042 of a second. Jörg Müller (1:22.960) and Farfus (1:23.201) went into Q2 as third and fourth best. Coronel was sitting fifth at the end of Q1. However, at this time his team was repairing his car for Q2 after he incurred damage with seven minutes remaining. Leading man Huff's teammates Larini and Menu both made the cut after claiming the sixth and seventh best times. Independent drivers Porteiro and Engstler along with Sergio Hernández made up the top ten, narrowly denying

Alessandro Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...

and D’Aste progression into Q2. All the five SEAT Sport turbodiesel cars remained out of the Q2 for the first time. In Q2, Coronel was the man to beat for the opening half of the session after he clocked a 1:22.917. However, Farfus knocked the Dutchman off provisional pole by a sturdy four tenths of a second. The Brazilian's time of 1:22.473 seemed good enough to set him up at the front for Race 1 until Priaulx bettered it by just 0.011 seconds. Coronel's time secured third place on the grid alongside Jörg Müller. A trio of Chevrolets followed from fifth to seventh; Huff (1:23.097), Menu (1:23.128) and Larini (1:23.282).http://www.fiawtcc.com/2009/uploadedFiles/PDF/RP.4.200951795641.pdf Qualifying Report

Warm-Up

Pole sitter Farfus was fastest in the warm–up session on Sunday morning with Jörg Müller second and Priaulx third.

Race One

Huff took his second win in three races for Chevrolet. The Briton got a great start from third and overtook Farfus who hit some oil and went wide at Pont Oscar on lap 2. Huff led the pack for the remaining 17 laps with Farfus and Jörg Müller having to settle for second and third despite applying constant pressure on the front man. Perseverance paid out for Priaulx who crossed the line fourth, having passed Menu on lap 12. Spaniard Hernández made good progress in the second half of the race to secure fifth place overall with fellow countryman Porteiro winning the independent category in sixth overall, however he was eventually excluded by the stewards for hitting Coronel. Engstler inherited the independents’ victory and sixth place, while Menu came home eighth to start race two on pole.http://www.fiawtcc.com/2009/uploadedFiles/PDF/RP.4.2009517225639.pdf Race Report

Race Two

Chevrolet achieved their fourth consecutive win and this time it was Menu on the top podium spot. He was joined by teammate Huff who crossed the line third and Farfus from BMW Team Germany took second place just as in race one. The race was suspended when Engstler collided with the safety car. During the first lap Porteiro hit Hernández with the later not being able to rejoin. Porteiro was given a drive-through penalty. Jörg Müller and Priaulx also made contact with each other in lap one. While Priaulx continued and crossed the line fourth, Müller received a drive-through penalty for pitting during the suspension of the race and finished 18th. Zanardi stormed through the pack to achieve fifth place and SEAT Sport men

and Yvan Muller scored points in sixth and seventh. The race ended under the red flags with one lap remaining after Cayrolle and Larini, who were battling for eighth spot, were involved in a collision.

Results

Qualifying

: —

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only ...

and Sergio Hernández had all their times in Q2 deleted for exceeding the engine rev limit on their cars. : —

had his four fastest lap times in Q1 deleted for exceeding the engine rev limit on his car. : —

had his fastest lap time in Q1 deleted for exceeding the engine rev limit and the maximum supercharged air pressure on his car.

Race 1

*Bold denotes ''Fastest lap''.

Race 2

*Bold denotes ''Fastest lap''.

Standings after the event

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

External links

Results Booklet PDF at MST SystemsCollision between Engstler and Safety Car at YouTube
{{WTCC race , Name_of_race=FIA WTCC Race of France , Year_of_race=2009 , Previous_race_in_season= 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco , Next_race_in_season= 2009 FIA WTCC Race of Spain , Previous_year's_race= 2008 FIA WTCC Race of France , Next_year's_race= 2014 FIA WTCC Race of France Race of France

Pau Grand Prix