For some finishing runner-up in the final championship reckoning is the ultimate heartache but for others it still represents a significant achievement after a season of toil. Since the FIA World Touring Car Championship was revived for 2005, here are the WTCC’s runner-up racers.
2005: Dirk Müller (lost out to Andy Priaulx by 15 points)
2006: Jörg Müller (Priaulx beat him to title gold by a solitary point)
2007: Yvan Muller (Once again Priaulx had the edge with an 11-point advantage)
2008: Gabriele Tarquini (Muller got his revenge and ended up 26 points in front)
2009: Yvan Muller (in a reversal of fortunes, Tarquini, right, won by four points)
2010: Gabriele Tarquini (Muller ended the year a dominant 55 points clear)
2011: Rob Huff (from third in 2010 to second in 2011, three points behind Muller)
2012: Alain Menu (Huff’s winning margin was 12 points0
2013: Gabriele Tarquini (the Italian was a gargantuan 189 points behind at the end)
2014: Yvan Muller (It was José María López’s title by 126 points)
2015: Yvan Muller (López was once again the main man with a 118-point cushion)