ROUNDS 13 & 14 RACE REPORT
Weather: sunny and warm, with a dry track. Crowd: 41,000
in the weekend.
ALEX ZANARDI CLAIMS HIS FIRST VICTORY
WHILE PRIAULX CLOSES IN TO ONE POINT BEHIND DIRK
BMW had a great day on their home racetrack. Not only did
the German cars win both races at Oschersleben, but they also
finished 1-2-3 in the second one. These results, together
with Alfa Romeo’s blackest day, also meant that two
BMW drivers – Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx –
are pulling away in the Drivers’ Championship. The two
of them, who fought for the title until the final race in
last year’s FIA European Touring Car Championship, are
separated by only one point. However, despite being scoreless
today, Alfa Romeo’s leading man Fabrizio Giovanardi
remains within striking distance, 12 points from the lead.
But the hero of the seventh meeting of the season was definitely
Alessandro Zanardi, who managed to claim his first win since
he joined the FIA Touring Car Championship two years ago.
In Oschersleben which, ironically, is the closest circuit
to the Lausitz Eurospeedway, where Zanardi lost his legs five
years ago, the BMW Team Italy-Spain driver dominated the second
race from lights to flag, resisting the assaults of his fellow
BMW colleague Jörg Müller. After the chequered flag,
Alex resumed his own winning ritual from the Formula Cart
years, wheelspinning his car in a cloud of smoke before the
crowded grandstands.
SEAT, Ford and Chevrolet also had reasons to rejoyce. The
Spanish Manufacturer claimed another podium result with Rickard
Rydell, who climbed up to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship,
while Jordi Gené showed the potential of the León,
finishing twice in the points while on the new cars’
first appearance
On their home track, the Ford Focus cars were competitive
than ever before, with both drivers being able to fight for
top ten positions, and Thomas Klenke losing a comfortable
7th place in Race 2 because of a puncture. In any case the
six points scored in the Manufacturers’ Championship
were a nice birthday present for team principal Hans Hotfiel.
As for Chevrolet, Alain Menu managed to score again, after
a tough battle with Zanardi’s team mate Antonio García.
RACE 1 – PENALTY FOR THOMPSON WIN FOR PRIAULX
Andy Priaulx claimed his first win of the season. At the
start the Briton overtook Farfus, which left only James Thompson’s
Alfa Romeo ahead of him. Unusually, Thompson had incurred
a drive through penalty before the start of the race because
his car was still on air-jacks when the three minute board
was shown. This was not a team mistake, an electric cable
of a tyre-warmer got stuck. It was in lap six that Thompson
pulled into the pits and handed the lead to the eventual race
winner.
Rickard Rydell crossed the line 2nd after holding off the
BMW Müller duo for seven laps. Overall, it was a great
race for SEAT. Terting claimed 5th, Ortelli finished an impressive
6th on his FIA WTCC debut and Gené took 7th position
in the new León. Alfa Romeo certainly did not have
the same fortune as none of their drivers scored points in
the drivers’ championship. Their best result came from
Farfus who took 9th. Giovanardi was hit by Cirò in
lap 1, which caused the Alfa Romeo to spin and re-join last.
Despite visiting the pits and continuing for a while, he did
not finish the race. Tarquini went wide at a corner on lap
5 and rejoined 12th. After being overtaken by Funke on lap
12, he eventually finished 13th.
Jörg Müller was the final podium occupier. He had
a fantastic start as his BMW leapt from 11th to 5th coming
into the first corner. In the latter part of the race Jörg
had 2nd place in his sights but couldn’t find an opportunity
to pass Rydell. Dirk Müller finished behind his team-mate
in 4th.
Ford had their best results so far as Thomas Klenke finished
a great 10th and Funke 12th, meaning 4 points in the Manufacturers’
Championship for the Blue Oval. Alain Menu headed a struggling
Chevrolet team by passing the chequered flag 11th while Larini
and Huff were 17th and 23rd respectively. Eric Hélary
did not finish for Peugeot as he stopped on the track during
lap 10. Adrianol De Micheli was the victor of the Independent
category and 15th overall in his Honda, the first success
for the Italian driver.
RACE 2 – ZANARDI LEAD A BMW 1-2-3
Alessandro Zanardi claimed a spectacular win in the FIA WTCC
– the first for him and his BMW Team Italy-Spain. He
started from pole due to the reverse grid and he drove a solid
race to ensure he was the victor. It was in fact a BMW 1-2-3
as Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx made their second
podium appearance of the day. The set of three were very close
and Jörg was sitting 2nd on the last lap when he made
a nail-biting challenge on Zanardi but went wide and rejoined
3rd. This promoted Priaulx which now means he is just one
point behind Dirk Müller in the driver’s championship.
At the start Ortelli was hit by fellow SEAT driver Terting
and both went off the track. The former continued to finish
15th while the latter pitted and did not re-join. In an attempt
to avoid this incident, De Micheli and Hennerici crashed and
re-joined towards the back of the field. On lap 2 Giovanardi’s
misfortune continued as he collided with Rosenblad and crashed
into the barriers.
The race was extremely tight over the next few laps with
the top 11 drivers crossing the line within 4 seconds. Among
the pack were Rydell and Tarquini who were battling for 7th
place. On lap 5 contact was made and the Alfa Romeo was forced
wide losing five positions in the process and eventually finishing
14th. The SEAT Sport man managed to hold on to 7th while his
team-mate Gené had a brilliant 4th place finish in
the new León after being third for ten laps. A fight
for the final point position was being contested by García
and Menu with the Chevrolet eventually crossing the line ahead
of the BMW. All the Chevrolet drivers had better results than
in Race 1 as Larini and Huff achieved 11th and 12th.
Ford Hotfiel Sport’s Thomas Klenke was having a great
race and made it up to 7th position overtaking Rydell, until
on lap 10 he had problems and had to pit. He returned and
passed the chequered flag 20th. However, all was not lost
as Funke claimed another 10th position for the team.
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