ROUNDS 1 & 2 – CURITIBA, BRAZIL
RACE 1 REPORT
Weather: cloudy and hot with a dry track. Crowd: 45,000 over
the weekend, 33,000 on Sunday
JÖRG MÜLLER LEADS A BMW 1-2-3
Jörg Müller turned his pole into a win in the first
race of the season. After the rolling start Priaulx promoted
himself above Farfus and the top three remained the same.
The first corner proved catastrophic for Alfa Romeo as both
drivers – Thompson and Tielemans – were caught
up in a collision also claiming Larini, Menu and Rangoni as
casualties. The only car involved that continued was Corthals’,
which went on to win the independent category. Due to this
incident the safety car was deployed for three laps and the
Stewards summoned Larini and Yvan Muller to investigate on
the happening. On the restart Müller got a clean break.
Farfus came close to Priaulx at several moments but was never
able to mount a challenge. Behind the leading pack Tarquini
crossed the line 4th for SEAT Sport followed by Huff; the
only Chevrolet left in the race. Coronel was on the tail of
the Briton but eventually crossed the line seventh.
The front row for the standing start of Race 2 will be compiled
of Yvan Muller on pole and Zanardi right beside. Porteiro
was set to line up in front of the pack as he was lying 8th
for the majority of the race. However an error at Curva da
Vitória on lap 12 left him out of the race and in the
gravel. In a similar incident, O’Brien, who was leading
the independent category left braking too late at Pinheirinho
and rejoined 13th which equated to third independent behind
Corthals and D’Aste.
BULLET NEWS
YVAN MULLER ON POLE FOR RACE 2
The inquiry carried out by the Stewards on the first corner
pile up that involved six cars resulted in: suspended penalty
for Yvan Muller, who therefore will start on pole position
in today’s second race having finished 8th in Race 1.
The penalty consists of a ten position drop on the starting
grid for Race 1 at Zandvoort in the case Muller is again involved
in an accident today.
COLCIAGO BACK AT THE TRACK
Discharged yesterday from the hospital after the crash occurred
during Friday’s test session, Roberto Colciago came
back to the track to visit his SEAT Sport Italia team.
Still suffering from rib pain and vertigo, the Italian driver
will rejoin the championship for the second race meeting,
at Zandvoort on May 6th.
WARM UP – RANGONI 4th FASTEST
J. Müller topped also the morning warm up session with
a time of 1:25.314. He was followed by Farfus (1:25.558) and
Menu (1:25.605). Proteam Motorsport independent driver Luca
Rangoni clocked an impressive 4th fastest time (1:25.661),
only 0.347 seconds behind.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Jörg MÜLLER
“I had a bad start to the season last year but this
is obviously a great one. It shows how much work we put in
over the winter and the potential we have for the rest of
the season. I tried to create gap from Andy [Priaulx] which
worked in the first few laps but then the rear dropped off
and Andy caught me. At the end of the straight here it gets
very tight and being 8th I don’t want to get caught
in any trouble in Race 2.”
Andy PRIAULX
“I was chasing Jörg because I always drive as
fast as I can. As it turned out his car was better at the
start but mine was stronger over the closing laps. Augusto
[Farfus] was difficult to keep behind at the beginning –
he is a quick kid. So far this has been a tough weekend but
if I can still finish 2nd I will look forward to a good one!”
Augusto FARFUS
“My goal for my first race with BMW was to finish and
score points. I have done both and also got on the podium
so I am pleased. I was chasing Andy at the start as I was
curious to see how his car would be for the duration of the
race but in the end it was quicker. I learned a lot about
how the car performs over a whole race and I am looking forward
to doing it again.”
Pierre-Yves CORTHALS
“I was unlucky to be caught up with Larini’s
car at the start and I ended up in the gravel. However, I
overtook some people and then I was chasing O’Brien
when he made a mistake. A great result for me and my new team
in their first race in the WTCC.”
ROUNDS 1 & 2 – CURITIBA, BRAZIL RACE 2 REPORT
Weather: cloudy and hot with a dry track. Crowd: 45,000 over
the weekend, 33,000 on Sunday
HOME VICTORY FOR AUGUSTO FARFUS
Augusto Farfus was victorious in Race two, crossing the line
as his home crowd roared. Priaulx and Jörg Müller
worked their way through the field from 7th and 8th on the
grid to complete the second all-BMW podium of the day. All
three drivers now lead the championship with 16 points a piece.
Due to the neutralisation of parc fermé Nicola Larini,
Luca Rangoni, Alain Menu, James Thompson and Olivier Tielemans
began from the back of the grid, their cars repaired after
being involved in the pile up at the start of the first race.
Yvan Muller got a fantastic start from pole position and
headed the field into the first corner. Moments later Robert
Huff tried to make the turn on the inside of Zanardi but there
was no room and his Chevrolet skidded across the track, narrowly
avoiding several cars. Consequently Zanardi fell from 2nd
to 5th; he eventually crossed the line 6th.
Farfus’ path to glory began when he promoted himself
from 6th to 2nd off the start. At turn one of lap three he
overtook Muller for the lead which he didn’t let go.
At this point Priaulx and Müller were 5th and 6th respectively
but by lap eleven they had passed the SEAT cars of Muller,
Tarquini and Coronel on their way to the podium. Turn one
was the location for all the attacks. The three SEAT drivers
finished in the top ten; Muller 4th followed directly by Tarquini
with Coronel claiming 8th place and the final point. Luca
Rangoni of Proteam Motorsport passed the chequered flag 7th
claiming the independent win and also two points for the overall
classification.
BULLET NEWS
PENALTIES FOR MULLER AND LARINI
Both Yvan Muller and Nicola Larini were considered guilty
of causing the pile up at the start of the first race. They
received a ten position drop on the starting grid for the
following race; however the penalty will be suspended for
the two next events: Zandvoort and Valencia.
INQUIRIES ON THE SECOND RACE
Two inquiries were carried out by the Stewards after the
second race, about two different collisions: Huff-Zanardi
and Gené-Hernández. In both cases the verdict
was “normal race incident”, and no actions were
taken.
NO LUCK FOR ALAIN MENU
Alain Menu had a turbulent Race 2. He lined up on the grid
but pulled into the pits at the end of the safety lap. This
was because his steering was faulty, a consequence of his
accident in Race 1. After the problem was repaired he returned
to the race but then a problem with a shock absorber occurred
and seeing as he was already 3 laps down he decided to call
it a day.
PORTEIRO DID NOT START
Félix Porteiro’s premiere weekend in the WTCC
was short lived. He did not start Race 2. After he retired
from the first race, the team tried in vain to repair the
gearbox and the young Spaniard was forced to watch the race
from the pits.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Augusto FARFUS
“It’s been a fantastic weekend. I wanted to score
points here and did I in the right way – I won! I have
to say thanks to all the BMW team. We have started on the
right foot and we can look forward to the rest of the championship.
To be honest I didn’t expect to be winning as soon as
this but I knew the BMW was the best car out there so it was
just a matter of time. Unfortunately I could not hear the
cheers of the fans when I was driving but as soon as I got
out of the car I did. I dedicate this win to my parents, my
sister and my girlfriend, I thank them all.”
Andy PRIAULX
“Before I came here I expected to do well but then
when we arrived we realised we were slightly off pace so it
was tough. We need to improve the car but this has been an
incredibly rewarding weekend and a step in the right direction.
It was a difficult but fair race and I made some solid moves
on Yvan Muller and Tarquini. Races in which you have to fight
your way through are much more challenging but thoroughly
enjoyable.”
Jörg MÜLLER
“I wouldn’t say the race was really difficult
but the most interesting element was my fight with Andy (Priaulx)
because it was completely fair. He, myself and Augusto (Farfus)
are all on equal points so in Zandvoort it will be like starting
all over again and we’ll have to fight harder.”
Luca RANGONI
“The first race was a disaster as it ended very quickly
and there was nothing I could do to avoid being involved.
The second race was a different story though. My team worked
brilliantly and fixed everything to give me a fantastic car.”
RACE CLASSIFICATION - RACE 2
1 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 20:20.148 14 152.62 1:26.110
2 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 20:24.526 14 4.378 152.08 1:26.174
3 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 20:25.839 14 5.691 151.91 1:25.914
4 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon 20:27.111 14 6.963 151.76 1:26.649
5 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 20:27.627 14 7.479 151.69
1:26.575
6 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 20:30.454 14 10.306 151.34
1:26.572
7 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320i 20:30.642 14 10.494 151.32
1:26.339
8 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 20:32.221 14 12.073 151.13
1:26.598
9 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 20:37.492 14 17.344
150.48 1:26.837
10 7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 20:38.573 14 18.425
150.35 1:26.966
11 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 20:48.348 14 28.200
149.18 1:27.158
12 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon 20:48.527 14 28.379 149.15 1:27.102
13 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320i 20:49.046 14 28.898 149.09
1:27.370
14 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 20:50.187 14 30.039
148.96 1:27.545
15 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 20:53.350 14 33.202 148.58
1:27.286
NOT CLASSIFIED
31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320i 13:32.216 9 D.N.F. 147.39
1:27.103
8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 10:03.164 3 D.N.F. 66.16
1:27.401
21 I Emmet O'BRIEN IRL SEAT Leon 1:43.867 1 D.N.F. 128.06
1:43.867
6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 0 D.N.F. N/A
5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 0 D.N.F. N/A
FASTEST LAP
2 Jorg MULLER BMW 320si 1:25.914 12 154.82kph 96.20mph
30 I Luca RANGONI BMW 320i 1:26.339 5 154.06kph 95.73mph
1 2 - Jörg MÜLLER (GER) 10 6 16
1 3 - Augusto FARFUS (BRA) 6 10 16
3 1 - Andy PRIAULX (GBR) 8 8 16
4 2 - Gabriele TARQUINI (ITA) 5 4 9
5 12 - Yvan MULLER (FRA) 1 5 6
6 4 - Alessandro ZANARDI (ITA) 2 3 5
7 6 - Robert HUFF (GBR) 4 0 4
8 20 - Tom CORONEL 3 1 4
9 30 - Luca RANGONI (ITA) 0 2 2
1 BMW 18 18 36
2 SEAT 10 11 21
3 Chevrolet 5 4 9
4 Alfa Romeo 0 5 5
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