FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS 3 & 4 RACE
REPORT
Magny-Cours, 30th April 2006
Weather: partially cloudy, with a dry track. Attendance: 68,000
over the two days, 50,000 on Sunday
ANDY PRIAULX OUSTS YVAN MULLER FROM THE LEAD
BMW reaffirmed their supremacy at Magny-Cours. The German
cars finished 1-2 in both races today extending their winning
streak to eight consecutive victories in the FIA Touring Cars
on the French racetrack.
The first race was decided by a dramatic fight between BMW
Team Germany fellow drivers Jörg and Dirk Müller.
While team manager Charly Lamm appeared very tense while watching
action from the pit wall, Dirk followed Jörg closely
and studied him, until he managed to make a winning move with
three laps to go. The second race was dominated by Andy Priaulx
of BMW team UK, who sprinted from pole position and led until
the chequered flag. Jörg Müller overtook two SEATs
to secure another important second place.
As a result, Andy Priaulx took the championship lead, ousting
Yvan Muller by 3 points, while BMW jumped ahead of SEAT in
the Manufacturers Championship. However it was not a negative
weekend for the Spanish car maker, as Rickard Rydell and Jordi
Gené claimed one third place apiece. Chevrolet drivers
were fighting for the podium again, although only Nicola Larini
managed to score one in the second race.
Alfa Romeo had a black weekend. None of the N.technology
drivers were on the pace from the free practice to the end
of the second race, further evidence that Magny-Cours is not
the best track for the red cars.
RACE 1: DIRK AND JÖRG MAKE A 1-2
Thanks to the BMW cars superb starting capabilities, Jörg
Müller stormed through the front row SEATs to enter the
first corner in the lead. Fellow Team BMW Germany driver,
Dirk Müller also shot off the line promoting himself
from 6th to 2nd within seconds. The race was then on between
them with Dirk the victor. Tarquini’s speed off the
line was less successful and dropped down to fourth with SEAT
Sport team-mate Rydell in front of him. At the first corner,
Tavano in his N.technology Alfa Romeo and BMW Team Italy-Spain’s
Costa, went off. As the race ensued, Dirk began to close the
gap between himself and Jörg. It was edged down until
on lap 9 Dirk made a smooth manoeuvre at Lycée bend
and managed to hold the car and defend his position to cross
the line 0.436 ahead of his team-mate and fellow countryman.
Rydell was always close to the action in León but couldn’t
quite challenge for a top 2 position.
Meanwhile, there was a contest between Britons, James Thompson
and Andy Priaulx for 7th. Priaulx managed to close the gap
to just 0.369 of a second but did not overtake, finishing
8th and therefore secured pole for Race 2. Robert Huff passed
the chequered place in 9th position, the best of the Chevrolet
team. For most of the race Yvan Muller was sandwiched in between
the Chevrolet cars of Larini and Huff but eventually finished
13th.
Independent drivers Luca Rangoni (Proteam Motorsport BMW
320si) and Tom Coronel (GR Asia SEAT Toledo) were involved
in a battle from the start as the former worked his way from
14th to 9th within the first lap. Coronel overtook the Italian
on lap two and stayed ahead to finish top independent and
10th overall.
RACE 2 – PRIAULX FROM LIGHTS TO FLAG
Andy Priaulx dominated for the whole of Race 2 driving his
BMW 320si from pole to the chequered flag ahead of the rest.
Jörg Müller achieved 2nd place for the second time
of the day moving his way up from 7th on the grid. SEAT once
again finished in the top three but this time it was the Jordi
Gené who lifted the trophy. The first corner was a
catalyst of action with a few drivers retiring as a result.
Dirk Müller and Rickard Rydell were the first to suffer
after another SEAT hit Rydell who then collided with Dirk.
Pierre-Yves Corthals also suffered impact and almost rolled
his JAS Motorsport Honda Accord. In a separate series of events,
Luca Rangoni hit Marcel Costa at the Adelaide hairpin; as
a result the Spaniard hit his team-mate Alessandro Zanardi
and both crashed into the barriers.
SEAT’s James Thompson began the race from the front
row but his team-mate, Gené, demoted him to 3rd on
lap 4. Thompson then had to defend hard to keep Jörg
at bay but BMW Germany man snuck through at the Grande Courbe
on lap 5. Tension was still to come for SEAT because Terting
overtook the Chevrolet of Huff on lap 7 and then chased team-mate
Yvan Muller before passing him at Lycée two laps later
to finish 6th.
Meanwhile, the Chevrolet drivers where in the thick of the
action. Huff was challenging the SEATs and led his team-mates
until the penultimate lap in which Larini moved to 8th place
leaving Huff to finish in the spot behind. Despite moving
from 21st to 7th in the first lap, Augusto Farfus was overtaken
by Yvan Muller and Huff on the second lap. As the race ensued,
the Alfa Romeo man dropped back to 12th.
Stefano D’Aste had a successful race and was among
the works drivers in 5th position overall after the first
lap. He eventually finished 10th overall and won the independents
race with Roberto Colciago behind him in 11th.
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