FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUNDS 1 & 2 RACE REPORT
Weather: sunny and warm, with a dry track. Attendance: 45,000
YVAN MULLER TAKES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
The 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship started on a sunny
Italian day, before a huge crowd of 45,000 who invaded the
track after the second race. It was a spectacular start to
the season with two breathtaking races, full of action, overtaking,
surprises and a new record field of 35 starters that overshadowed
the 33 of Magny-Cours in 2005.
Reigning World Champion Andy Priaulx of BMW Team UK emerged
as the winner in the first race, giving the new BMW 320si
a victory on its very first race. The second race went to
N.technology’s Augusto Farfus, who proved that the Super
2000 Alfa Romeo 156 is still a winning car on its fifth racing
season. However, newcomer Yvan Muller is the first championship
leader of the season, thanks to the two second places he collected
today. The Frenchman is also the first SEAT driver to be on
top of the points since the Spanish Manufacturer joined the
FIA Touring Car Championship back in 2003.
SEAT is also leading the Manufacturers Championship.
The second race turned into a nightmare for the BMW drivers.
Dirk Müller, Andy Priaulx, Jörg Müller and
Marcel Costa were all involved in collisions, while Alessandro
Zanardi came out the worst in his fight with Farfus for the
lead in the second race.
Opposite situation at Chevrolet, where the team celebrated
their first podium result after Alain Menu came home a close
third behind Farfus and Yvan Muller. A success that was completed
by two more points scored by Nicola Larini. A special mention
goes to Alessandro Balzan, who not only managed to score a
double victory in the Independents Trophy, but also fought
for the podium in Race 2 against a bunch of works drivers.
WARM-UP – FARFUS FASTEST, ZANARDI CRASHES
What should have been a normal warm-up session actually
brought high drama this morning. Alessandro Zanardi had just
posted the fourth fastest lap overall before going wide at
Lesmo 2 and narrowly avoiding a high speed collision with
Dirk Müller. “I made a mistake, I went wide and
I lost the car. It was unfortunate that I hit the barriers
that are placed just after the tyre wall so the impact was
heavier that it would have been if I’d crashed into
tyres.,” he said. Alfa Romeo’s Brazilian, Augusto
Farfus set the fastest lap at 2:01.567.
RACE 1 – PRIAULX WINS THE OPENING ROUND
Reigning world champion, Andy Priaulx in car number
1 started from pole and led the entire race to cross the line
first in the first race of the season. From the very start
the Team BMW UK man created a gap and was never seriously
challenged by the battling field behind him. Yvan Muller had
a spectacular race in his WTCC debut to finish second. He
was joined by teammate James Thompson on the podium.
After a bad start, Farfus was caught in an incident with
Alfa Romeo team-mate Tavano incurring damage to the rear of
his car. He dropped down to 5th leaving Dirk Müller and
Yvan Muller fighting for second. This resulted in some breathtaking
moments but persistence paid dividends as Yvan overtook on
the eight lap. The fight was not over there for Dirk however
as Thompson was now on his tail. On the final lap the SEAT
and BMW were side by side down the straight but Thompson edged
through the first corner to finish on the podium.
There was a spell of two laps under safety car conditions,
after Colciago crashed at the Biassono bend and his car caught
fire on the track following a clash with Edman’s Peugeot.
After the re-start Zanardi, Tarquini and Rydell were competing
for 6th position. After various overtaking moves Tarquini
passed the chequered flag 5th with Rydell and Zanardi 6th
and 7th. Augusto Farfus finished 8th and claimed pole for
the second race.
Huff was the leading Chevrolet in 11th position until lap
8 when he spun and dropped to the back of the field. This
left Menu to chase and overtake Costa of BMW Team Italy Spain
for 10th position.
In the Independent category, Balzan was victorious and finished
9th overall.
FARFUS WINS BREATHTAKING RACE 2
Before the crowd could catch its breath after the first race,
the second was underway and even more spectacular.
The young Brazilian driver, Augusto Farfus began from pole
in his N.technology Alfa Romeo 156 and unlike Race 1, he got
a great start. In the opening stages there was a five man
fight for third; Tarquini, Thompson, Dirk Müller, Priaulx
and Rydell were in a close pack throughout the opening three
laps. Priaulx, Dirk and Thompson all entered a corner together
and while Thompson escaped relatively unscathed, Dirk and
Priaulx ended the race with their BMW cars in barriers. The
leading pack continued and by now independent driver Alessandro
Balzan had come from 9th through to 6th. This soon improved
to 5th after Tarquini had a failed attempt at overtaking Zanardi
and fell back to 10th. On lap 5 Balzan continued to storm
through, overtaking Yvan Muller for 4th and then Rydell for
3rd. However, a place on the overall podium was not to be
as Yvan redeemed 3rd place on lap 7.
Zanardi and Farfus were having their own contest for victory.
Contact was made several times but on the penultimate lap
the BMW car’s steering obtained damage and Zanardi was
out of contention. More action ensued as Balzan dropped down
to 6th coming into the final lap and Rydell and Huff collided.
The result of these incidents meant Alain Menu achieved a
fantastic podium for Chevrolet. And their success did not
end there because Larini finished in the points, 7th overall.
Balzan obtained an outstanding 4th position overall and encored
his victory in the Independents’ category.
Monza
Race 1 Results
Monza
Race 2 Results
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