ROUNDS 15 & 16 – OSCHERSLEBEN, GERMANY
RACE 1 REPORT
Weather: sunny, with a dry track.
SEAT CLAIM MAIDEN DIESEL VICTORY
Yvan Muller made motor sport history today at Oschersleben,
claiming the first World Championship victory for a diesel
car. The Frenchman and his SEAT León TDI started from
the front row of the grid, took the lead after a few laps
and led home a line of SEAT, Alfa Romeo and BMW petrol-powered
cars.
Muller’s team-mate Gabriele Tarquini was classified
second, while James Thompson was third, giving another podium
result to Alfa Romeo; he was closely followed by the BMWs
of Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx. Roberto Colciago
finished the race in 8th position, claiming victory in the
Independents’ Trophy and pole position on the reverse
grid for the second race.
From lap 1 to 3, the race was neutralized by the safety car
due to two different pile ups that eliminated eight cars.
At the start a first collision involved Alessandro Zanardi’s
BMW and Nicola Larini’s Chevrolet that tangled and collected
the independent SEATs of Massimiliano Pedalà and Pierre-Yves
Corthals. A few hundred metres later a second incident saw
Colciago’s SEAT and Alain Menu’s Chevrolet spinning.
Other casualties were Luca Rangoni’s and Félix
Porteiro’s BMW and Tom Coronel’s and Peter Terting’s
SEATs. Only Colciago and Rangoni were able to rejoin.
Tarquini, who had taken the lead from pole position, retained
it when the race resumed. He was chased by Muller, Thompson,
Müller and Priaulx. However, after only one lap, Muller
drove the TDI past the petrol-powered sister car. Then he
managed to maintain the lead, leaving Tarquini, Thompson,
Müller and Priaulx to fight a tough battle for the other
podium positions. In spite of the many attempts, nobody managed
to overtake anybody, and they finished in the order. Behind
them Jordi Gené in the second SEAT TDI was capable
to resist the assaults from Augusto Farfus and Colciago who
had recovered quickly also setting the race’s fastest
lap.
Olivier Tielemans achieved his best result so far in the
season, finishing ninth in the second Alfa Romeo, ahead of
Tiago Monteiro and Robert Huff; the latter being the only
Chevrolet driver classified in the race.
Young Russian rookie Timur Sadredinov successfully completed
his maiden WTCC race in 13th position overall and second of
the Independents.
BULLET NEWS FREITAS SIDELINED BY
THE ENGINE
Miguel Freitas and his Racing for Belgium Alfa Romeo
156 did not make the grid because of technical problems. The
Portuguese driver, who had rejoined the championship after
one-event break, was sidelined by an engine failure occurred
during yesterday’s qualifying session.
DREAMS COME TRUE IN OSCHERSLEBEN
Moris Schäfer, winner of a competition launched by daily
newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung, visited Oschersleben yesterday.
The competition was called “My dream comes true”
and Schäfer’s dream was to meet Jörg Müller
and the BMW team. Yesterday afternoon he had his dream fulfilled,
meeting his favourite driver and visiting the BMW garage.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Yvan MULLER
“I’m incredibly pleased, because for the latest
months we worked hard for a new combination, and one month
ago we took the risk to go for the diesel after only 1000
km of test. It was a risk, kind of a bet, which today has
paid off. I knew that the car was good in qualifying, but
I expected to have problems in the races. Therefore, yesterday
I focused on working with new tyres, to find the best set
up and save them at the beginning for the second half of the
race. And we did a good job, because things went exactly as
we had planned and the car remained consistent for the whole
distance.”
Gabriele TARQUINI
“My car’s problem is the top speed. The others
- Alfa Romeo, BMW and the turbo-diesel SEAT – are faster.
And I also have 55 kilos of ballast on board. So it was really
difficult for me to keep everybody behind. I tried to stop
Yvan, but I couldn’t. I was lucky that eventually I
managed to keep second position in spite of the pressure coming
from Thompson and the BMW guys. I had to thank the SEAT chassis,
because while cornering I was able to build enough margin
to resist at the end of the straight.”
James THOMPSON
“I found myself sandwiched between two SEATs and two
BMWs, which is probably the worst place to be. The BMWs were
quicker in the second part of the race, while the SEATs were
quicker in the first part. It was not easy to bring home this
third place, and I think that it was a great achievement for
the team, considering how old our car is compared to the others.
When I won the races in Valencia, everybody said that it was
because I had a lighter car. But today I had the same ballast
than Tarquini, which gives a lot of credit to the job we have
done.”
Roberto COLCIAGO
“I had a good start but I was hit by another
car and spun. I lost a few places, but the car was really
good and I managed to recover and set the fastest lap. I’m
happy because this meant pole position for the second race.”
2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship
RACE CLASSIFICATION - RACE 1
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH BEST
1 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon TDI 27:57.209 16 126.58 1:37.665
2 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 27:57.655 16 0.446 126.55
1:37.772
3 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 27:58.002 16 0.793
126.52 1:37.525
4 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 27:58.465 16 1.256 126.49 1:37.499
5 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 27:58.689 16 1.480 126.47 1:37.499
6 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon TDI 27:59.973 16 2.764 126.37
1:37.576
7 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 28:00.225 16 3.016 126.36
1:37.593
8 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 28:00.586 16 3.377 126.33
1:37.262
9 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 28:03.191 16 5.982
126.13 1:37.604
10 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 28:05.842 16 8.633 125.93
1:37.336
11 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 28:10.582 16 13.373
125.58 1:38.173
12 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 28:13.782 16 16.573 125.34
1:38.029
13 35 I Timur SADREDINOV RUS SEAT Leon 28:17.212 16 20.003
125.09 1:38.016
14 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 28:17.410 16 20.201
125.08 1:38.228
15 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 28:18.905 16 21.696
124.97 1:38.442
16 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 29:31.520 16 1:34.311 119.84
1:39.209
17 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 27:49.520 15 1 LAP 119.20
1:37.578
NOT CLASSIFIED
8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 29:10.352 6 N.C.F. 45.28
1:37.710
5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 2:47.021 1 D.N.F. 76.21
4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 2:47.966 1 D.N.F. 75.78
7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 3:05.325 1 D.N.F. 68.68
20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 0 D.N.F. N/A
23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 0 D.N.F. N/A
34 I Massimiliano PEDALA ITA SEAT Leon 0 D.N.F. N/A
40 Peter TERTING GER SEAT Leon 0 D.N.F. N/A
FASTEST LAP
19 I Roberto COLCIAGO SEAT Leon 1:37.262 8 136.80kph 85.00mph
18 Tiago MONTEIRO SEAT Leon 1:37.336 5 136.69kph 84.94mph
RACE 2 REPORT
Weather: overcast, with a threat of rain and a dry track
Crowd: 39,000 over the two days.
FARFUS WINS AND TAKES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx gave BMW a dominant 1-2 finish
in their home race. Jordi Gené claimed the third podium
position adding another excellent result to the brand new
SEAT León TDI’s tally, just ahead of James Thompson
who was fighting again for the top places.
With former championship leader Jörg Müller forced
to retire after being involved in a first corner collision,
Farfus inherited the lead, only one point ahead of Priaulx.
As usual the BMW cars sprinted at the start: Farfus took
the lead chased by Priaulx, while Jörg Müller tried
to squeeze between the SEATs of pole man Roberto Colciago
and Jordi Gené. The three clashed at the first corner
and only Gené managed to went through unscathed. Colciago
drove wide and dropped down at the back of the field, while
Müller rejoined but retired soon afterwards due to a
broken suspension.
The fight between Farfus and Priaulx was breathtaking; they
tangled at the end of lap 4, nearly allowing Gené and
Thompson to benefit from the situation and jump ahead. For
the whole distance Priaulx put a nearly unbearable pressure
on Farfus, but the Brazilian managed to drive all the assaults
back and went to grab his third victory of the season.
With Gené and Thompson closely chasing the leaders,
Yvan Muller, Robert Huff, Gabriele, Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro
delivered an exciting battle for the remaining points. Monteiro
lost few places after clashing with Tarquini and then found
himself involved in another tough duel with Alessandro Zanardi
for the eighth position, with the Italian getting the worst
of it. In the early stages Zanardi’s team-mate Félix
Porteiro was also fighting for the points, but then had to
observe a drive-through penalty due to a jump start.
Massimiliano Pedalà won the Independents’ race,
giving SEAT Sport Italia their second success of the day.
Pedalà, who started from the back of the grid after
being caught in the pile up at the start of the first race,
took the lead on lap 10 after Sergio Hernández spun
and dropped down. Stefano D’Aste is the new leader of
the Independents’ Trophy.
The championship will resume at Brands Hatch, UK, on September
23rd and 24th, for rounds 17 and 18.
BULLET NEWS
ZANARDI PENALISED FOR THE NEXT RACES
The Stewards judged Alessandro Zanardi guilty for causing
the pile-up at the start of today’s first race. They
decided to impose him: a drop of 10 places on the starting
grid for Race 1 in Brands Hatch (applying the suspended penalty
he had received in Porto) he will be also dropped 10 places
in all the following three rounds: Race 2 in Brands Hatch
and Races 1 and 2 in Monza.
CORTHALS MISSED SECOND RACE
Independents’ Trophy leader Pierre-Yves Corthals was
forced to skip today’s second race due to damage obtained
in the accident at the start of Race 1. Corthals’ SEAT
was crushed between Zanardi’s BMW and the pit wall;
damage was so extensive that the car couldn’t be repaired.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Augusto FARFUS
“It was one of the toughest races I had. I was really
pushing hard and Andy was putting a lot of pressure on me.
I knew I couldn’t afford to do the slightest mistake
otherwise he would have easily overtaken me. I was able to
create a gap in the second sector, but in the third sector
he was definitely faster. And this is where we nearly clashed.
I was trying to keep the line and shut the door. Andy did
a good job not pushing me off.”
Andy PRIAULX
“When you drive against team-mates you have to have
discipline and avoid mistakes. I wish to congratulate Augusto
for his great race. I thought to be faster and put a lot of
pressure. I was trying to push him to make a mistake, but
in the same time I had to defend my position from Jordi (Gené)
and James (Thompson). We were so close to each other that
at some point I think that Thommo hit Jordi, who hit me and
sent me into Augusto’s car. I felt like the ham in a
sandwich…”
Jordi GENÉ
“This podium is a good reward for the work I’ve
done on the TDI car. I was hoping to be the first one to drive
it to a victory, but I’m really pleased with this third
place. This morning I was 18th on the grid and did not expect
a podium. I’m pleased for SEAT because they put in a
huge effort on this car. The team worked really hard, with
no holidays, and now it seems we are able to compete with
the others.”
Massimiliano PEDALÀ
“I’m really happy for the team. Two victories
in the same weekend is a great result, especially when we
consider that I had a bad start, with an engine change and
the collision in the first race.”
RACE CLASSIFICATION - RACE 2
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH BEST
Weather/Track: Cloud 22°/Dry 28°
www.mstworld.com
Oschersleben
Circuit Length = 3.6960 km.
Start: 16:03 End: 16:26
Printed - 16:28 Sunday, 26 August 2007
Race Director: Steward: Timekeeper:
1 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 22:55.632 14 134.99 1:37.568
2 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 22:56.196 14 0.564 134.93 1:37.463
3 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon TDI 22:58.136 14 2.504 134.74
1:37.383
4 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 22:58.494 14 2.862
134.71 1:37.310
5 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon TDI 22:59.327 14 3.695 134.63
1:37.513
6 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 22:59.704 14 4.072 134.59
1:37.639
7 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 23:00.270 14 4.638 134.54
1:37.611
8 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 23:03.906 14 8.274 134.18
1:37.562
9 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 23:05.494 14 9.862 134.03
1:37.733
10 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 23:06.392 14 10.760
133.94 1:37.787
11 34 I Massimiliano PEDALA ITA SEAT Leon 23:06.884 14 11.252
133.89 1:37.726
12 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 23:07.385 14 11.753 133.85
1:37.834
13 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 23:07.869 14 12.237 133.80
1:37.698
14 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 23:08.989 14 13.357
133.69 1:37.382
15 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 23:10.656 14 15.024
133.53 1:37.514
16 22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 23:12.066 14 16.434
133.40 1:38.041
17 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 23:12.236 14 16.604
133.38 1:37.887
18 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 23:17.877 14 22.245 132.84
1:37.374
19 35 I Timur SADREDINOV RUS SEAT Leon 23:26.248 14 30.616
132.05 1:38.864
20 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 23:27.118 14 31.486 131.97
1:37.420
21 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 23:32.193 13 1 LAP
122.07 1:38.064
22 40 Peter TERTING GER SEAT Leon 20:12.079 12 2 LAPS 131.25
1:37.839
NOT CLASSIFIED
16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 12:10.462 7 D.N.F.
126.71 1:38.028
2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 7:18.507 4 D.N.F. 120.05 1:42.811
FASTEST LAP
15 James THOMPSON Alfa Romeo 156 1:37.310 3 136.73kph 84.96mph
30 I Luca RANGONI BMW 320si 1:37.374 3 136.64kph 84.90mph
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