ROUNDS 19 & 20 RACE QUOTES
Andy PRIAULX – BMW Team UK, 1st in Race 1,
5th in Race 2
2006 FIA World Touring Car Champion
“I am nearly numb with emotion. The pressure was massive
on me coming here. The second race was the hardest one I have
ever had. Giovanardi was behind touching me on every lap and
Thompson was slower than me ahead. I didn’t know if
I had won until I crossed the line. It has been a vintage
year in the WTCC. This championship is a world class championship
and I’m very glad to be in it and able to drive to win.”
Mario THEISSEN – BMW Motorsport Director
“It is a very rewarding feeling to be here winning
our third touring car title in a row. It is so important to
us. We introduced the new car this year; the BMW 320si E90
which is the same as the car we sell worldwide so we wanted
to show our customers it was the right choice. To introduce
the 320si for the start of the season was tight in terms of
design and development but throughout the year we improved
it and now we can definitely say it is a step up from the
old one. Coming to Macau the championship fight couldn’t
have been closer. In this business you can never predict because
anything can and will happen. We made it eventually!”
Bart MAMPAEY – BMW UK Team Manager
“The key to BMW Team UK’s success is that we
have a group of people who have been working together for
a while. They are committed people, they live close to the
factory and to each other so we have stability. We have grown
with the championship and we only have one goal which is to
work as hard as we can to win the title. With the weight,
the new car and with Andy as the favourite we had to work
a lot harder and we’ve managed to do that. In the end
it comes down to a team effort and Andy fits well into it.
The commitment of the manufacturers in this championship is
such that there is a big push forward. The level is so high
and there are a lot of great teams and great drivers. It makes
me proud to be here with my Belgian team winning again.”
Jörg MÜLLER – BMW Team Germany, 6th
in Race 1, 1st in Race 2
“Andy has done really well this year and he deserves
the championship. It has been a great weekend for me. I didn’t
have the best chance of winning the championship here as a
result of us struggling to be quick with the weight at the
start of the season which we improved but a bit too late.
To win in Macau with 75 kg of ballast is quite something.
BMW is like a big family so the development of the new car
was a team effort in sharing information. There are six good
drivers in six good BMW cars and I am extremely pleased to
be one of them.”
Yvan MULLER – SEAT Sport France, 3rd in Race
1, 2nd in Race 2
“Of course I’m happy with my fourth place in
the Drivers’ classification on my first season here.
As Andy (Priaulx) stated, this is a world championship of
the highest level and every small mistake costs points and
I made a few mistakes while I was learning. What happened
at the re-start of Race 2 was that Peter Terting misfired
and slowed. However, there were yellow flags so I wasn’t
sure whether to overtake. He remained slow so I decided to
overtake and everyone else followed me. When I was issued
the penalty for three laps I had Tom Coronel flashing his
lights at me and I wanted him to go away! In the end the penalty
was cancelled so it was fair.”
Duncan HUISMAN – BMW Team Italy-Spain, 2nd
in Race 1, 13th in Race 2
“I was here to get important points for the Manufacturers’
championship. Even if I had the chance to attack Andy in Race
1 I wouldn’t have done it because I’m not stupid.
He had a good chance of winning the title and I didn’t.
Instead I stayed behind him and managed to give him a slight
gap. In Race 2 I got quite a good start. I had Andy behind
me at the Mandarin Oriental bend and I didn’t want to
block him. I was then touched by others at Lisboa and the
subsequent corners which bent my suspension and so I lost
speed.”
Tom CORONEL – GR Asia, 7th in Race 1, 3rd in
Race 2
“What a fantastic season! I was one of the few independent
drivers who was competing with the works drivers this season
and because I knew I had already won the independents’
trophy I raced with my instinct today. Paul Ridgeway, GR Asia
Team Manager, is one of the best engineers I have ever met.
He trusts his drivers 100% and listens to everything they
say so he can improve the car constantly. The whole team is
top class.”
Augusto FARFUS – N.technology, 5th in Race
1, DNF in Race 2
“The season didn’t end as we had hoped but I
did a good job this year and the car was perfect at every
event, we never had any mechanical problems. I have to say
thanks to the team and we must feel happy, it wasn’t
a bad ending.”
Fabrizio GIOVANARDI – JAS Motorsport, 4th in
Race 1, 6th in Race 2
“This weekend has been great for me and the team because
we did so well and I was close to getting on the podium. I
think the performance of the team and the car was good because
I was consistently fast. Andy (Priaulx) was really slow during
the first couple of laps and I was thinking, ‘either
you speed up or you let me past.’ Anyway, it was a clean
race for the both of us. I’m happy he won the title
again.”
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