ROUNDS 9 & 10 – BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC RACE 1 &
2 REPORTS
Weather: sunny with a dry track.
RACE 1: PORTEIRO LEADS A BMW 1-2-3-4
Félix Porteiro turned his first pole of the season
into his and BMW Team Italy- Spain’s first victory.
Alessandro Zanardi overtook Augusto Farfus for third position
on lap seven making it a double celebration for the team.
Jörg Müller completed the BMW podium in second place.
At the first corner Andy Priaulx’s car was hit by Pierre-Yves
Corthals in an accident which is under investigation. Jordi
Gené also got caught up in the incident and strayed
into the gravel but while the Spaniard continued and finished
15th, the reigning champion’s race was over.
On the same lap Tom Coronel from GR Asia and Luca Rangoni
for Proteam Motorsport clashed, with the former not able to
continue. The second lap was completed under safety car conditions.
While at the front the four BMWs managed to pull away when
the race resumed and created a gap, another quartet of cars
– two Chevrolets and two SEATs – fought for the
positions from 5 to 8.
There was a tough battle for the independent win with Corthals
and Massimiliano Pedalà overtaking each other on numerous
occasions. Eventually Pedalà was the more successful
and despite chasing James Thompson for 9th he finished 10th
for SEAT Sport Italia while Corthals of Exagon Racing came
home 12th. This was the team’s first victory since they
joined the championship.
Nicola Larini crossed the line fifth for Chevrolet while
his team-mate Alain Menu secured eighth and pole position
for race two. Sandwiched in between the blue cars were Yvan
Muller and Gabriele Tarquini of SEAT Sport. Results of the
first race meant that Augusto Farfus regained the Drivers’
Championship lead, with a 3 point gap ahead of Priaulx, while
Müller is 6 points off his own team-mate.
BULLET NEWS
PEDALÀ FASTEST IN THE WARM UP
Massimiliano Pedalà created a surprise by setting
the fastest time of 2:13.699. Alex Zanardi and Gabriele Tarquini
were 0.053 and 0.144 of a second slower respectively. Jörg
Müller went wide and skidded onto the gravel at turn
five but rejoined while Davide Roda of Proteam Motorsport
found himself in the gravel at turn 12 where his session ended.
NEW ENGINES FOR GEIPEL AND FREITAS
Philip Geipel’s Toyota Corolla T-Sport and Miguel Freitas’
Alfa Romeo 156 both underwent engine changes last night. The
two independent drivers will therefore start at the back of
the grid.
Portuguese driver Freitas had to be permitted by the stewards
to take part in the races after engine problems meant he didn’t
take part in qualifying.
FOUR CARS TO THE BACK OF THE GRID
Four competitors applied for neutralization of the parc fermé
in between the two races in order to repair damages obtained
in the first race: Luca Rangoni, Tom Coronel, Philip Geipel
and Andy Priaulx.
Therefore they will be placed at the back of the grid for
the second race.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Félix PORTEIRO
“I’m really happy with this result because the
team and I needed it for all our hard work. The race was constant
and I pushed hard because I knew if I didn’t make mistakes
I could win it. There was a slight problem in the first corner
where someone pushed me from the back but I continued. I have
to say I am extra happy to be able to share the podium with
Zanardi. The problem for race two is that there are three
BMW cars ahead of me and so it will be a race for fun and
to keep learning.”
Jörg MÜLLER
“Félix didn’t make any mistakes and my
ballast meant I couldn’t keep up with him. From the
start I knew I would be happy with second place and I’m
pleased I have closed the gap in the championship. This result
is good for BMW and if all of us concentrate for the second
race we can probably pass the front wheel drive cars and get
some good points.”
Alessandro ZANARDI
“This is a great result for the team, Félix
and myself. Unfortunately it is the first race and we still
have to do the second one so we can’t celebrate properly
yet! At the start I was right behind Félix and couldn’t
go anywhere while people were all over the place. After turn
one my steering wasn’t straight but I realised I still
had the speed and while Farfus tried to resist he was fair
when the time came for me to overtake. It was Félix’s
day today…he’s talented, no doubt about it.”
Massimiliano PEDALÀ
“It’s a dream for me to be here so to get a win
is incredible, especially because it is only my second race
in the WTCC. The team gave me a perfect car so I could go
and have a great race, which is exactly what I did.”
RACE 2: MÜLLER WINS, FARFUS LEADS
Race 2 saw another all BMW podium as Jörg Müller
came from seventh on the grid to claim the win. His BMW Team
Germany colleague Augusto Farfus followed him and winner of
race one, Félix Porteiro completed the top three. Farfus
now is back into the championship lead with 53 points, ahead
of Müller with 49 and Andy Priaulx with 45.
Yvan Muller, who should have lined up third, did not take
the start due to problems with his gearbox.
Alain Menu got a great start from pole and went into turn
one with a solid gap from the rest. Behind him, Alessandro
Zanardi promoted himself to third and on lap two overtook
Gabriele Tarquini for second. Zanardi and Menu were then involved
in an incident that resulted in Menu ending up in the gravel.
Zanardi, who had to pay a ten second stop-and-go penalty
due to a breach of the rules of parc fermé before the
race, came in and after leaving the stopand- go bay he pitted
to change a wheel damaged in the collision with the Chevrolet.
Tarquini held the lead for SEAT Sport until the next lap
when Farfus and Müller both passed him. On the same lap
Porteiro overtook Nicola Larini for fifth. Larini came home
sixth and was the only Chevrolet to finish, after Menu’s
off and Huff going to the garage on lap three. The Italian
now lies fourth in the championship, the best of the non-BMW
drivers. Tarquini finished in fourth spot followed by James
Thompson of N.technology Alfa Romeo.
Priaulx had a stunning race coming from 22nd on the grid
to claim two important championship points from 7th. By lap
four the Briton was 10th but his progress was stalled when
he had to pass the defending SEAT duo of Jordi Gené
and Tiago Monteiro. On lap eight he successfully did so. Gené
took the final point by passing the chequered flag in eighth.
Stefano D’Aste claimed the independent win and is now
joint second with fellow countryman Luca Rangoni; they are
7 points behind the new leader Pierre-Yves Corthals.
BULLET NEWS
ZANARDI FINED 1,200 EURO FOR SPEEDING
When Zanardi came to the pits during the second race, to
fulfil his 10 second stop-and-go penalty for breaching parc
fermé rules, he incurred two further punishments for
speeding in the pit lane.
Thirty seconds were added to his total race time plus a fine
of 1200 euros: worked out by fining 50 euros for every kilometre
of his speed over the 60 km per hour limit; in fact his speed
was 84 kph.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Jörg MÜLLER
“My poor results at Pau were a result of not enough
hard work so we went to Hungary to test and improve the car
in qualifying. It helped a lot yesterday and to achieve a
win and a second place with 45 kg is something I could only
dream of. This track seems to suit the BMW cars and I was
lucky today with other people having accidents. The team is
now 1-2 in the championship which is the most important thing
for me.”
Augusto FARFUS
“I came here with 60 kg which means a lot on this track.
I was able to fight my way through in race one and then in
race two I had a good battle with Jörg. He was faster
than me. I am looking forward to going to Portugal and nobody
knows the track so it will be fun.”
Félix PORTEIRO
“The car has been very competitive since yesterday’s
practice. The problem in race two was the first couple of
laps when I had to fight to overtake Thompson and Larini.
Larini was the most difficult to overtake but I knew I would
be quicker over the race duration so I relaxed and waited
to make a move.”
Stefano D’ASTE
I’m very happy with this result and I think it is the
best way to say thank you to my team who completely re-built
my car after the big crash I had in Pau. I was faster than
the two SEATs in front of me but I didn’t try to overtake
because I didn’t want to risk the win in the Independents’
Trophy.”
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