ROUNDS 17 & 18 – BRANDS HATCH, UNITED KINGDOM
RACE 1 REPORT
Weather: cloudy, with a cool breeze and a dry track
CHEVROLET WIN FROM ALFA AND BMW
Alain Menu claimed victory after not putting a wheel wrong
all race. The Chevrolet driver came under pressure from N.technology’s
James Thompson on numerous occasions but the Alfa Romeo never
got close enough to overtake. Third across the line was Colin
Turkington’s BMW that overtook Jordi Gené’s
SEAT on the penultimate lap.
Gené got a fantastic start and promoted himself from
sixth to third in his diesel powered SEAT León. His
SEAT Sport team-mate, Tiago Monteiro, who should have lined
up fourth, frustratingly had to start from the pits after
he suffered a fuel feeding problem.
Gabriele Tarquini braked late coming into Paddock Hill Bend
on the first lap. On the outside of him was Jörg Müller
who took a tap, spun across the track and collected Nicola
Larini’s Chevrolet into the gravel with him. Müller
continued and eventually finished 14th but Larini did not
rejoin.
The incident meant the deployment of the safety car for two
laps. On the restart the field kept position but Yvan Muller
was making ground on Turkington for fourth place. The pair
were side by side at Hawthorn Bend but Turkington defended
successfully. The Team RAC driver then went on to catch up
with Gené but while chasing his tail Muller managed
to reduce the gap and consequently the orange BMW had to defend
again. Eventually on lap 15 both Turkington and Muller overtook
Gené.
Rob Huff and Andy Priaulx spent most of the race looking
at the rear of Pierre-Yves Corthals’ independent SEAT
León, however, on lap 15 Huff overtook the Belgian
at Druids Bend for sixth place. Corthals quickly shut the
door on Priaulx but persistence meant the reigning champion
took seventh place on the last lap. Corthals claimed the independent
win and also a brilliant eighth place in the overall results.
Félix Porteiro will line up on pole for the second
race. The BMW Team Italy- Spain driver finished ninth but
due to the fact Turkington is not eligible for points and
finished in the top eight, the reverse grid has been extended
to nine.
These results meant that Andy Priaulx re-took the championship
lead, two points ahead of Augusto Farfus.
BULLET NEWS MCRAE HONOURED AT BRANDS
Former World Rally Champion Colin McRae was honoured today
at Brands Hatch when a minute of silence was observed after
the end of the first FIA WTCC race. McRae died last week in
a helicopter crash, together with his 5-year old son and two
other people.
ZANARDI AND JOURDAIN DROPPED
Alessandro Zanardi and Michel Jourdain were both dropped ten
positions on the grid. The Italian (15th fastest time) because
of an incident at the start of Oschersleben’s first
race and the Mexican (20th fastest) for not slowing down under
yellow flags in yesterday’s qualifying session.
BAD LUCK FOR PEDALÀ
Massimiliano Pedalà had a bad start to his race day
when he suffered a spin at Clark Curve in the warm up. His
engine burst into flames. The team managed to change the engine
in time for the Italian to join Race 1 for the final few laps
of the race. However, with repairs not entirely complete,
SEAT Sport Italia applied for neutralization of parc ferme
between the races and therefore Pedalà will begin from
the back of the grid for the second race.
THEY SAID, THEY SAID…
Alain MENU
“That win was fantastic. I am very happy with myself
to win here again because it is like my home country. It was
certainly a tough race because Thompson was quicker than me.
Having said that; it is one thing to be close and another
to overtake. I had to push for the entire race but I knew
the places that Thompson wouldn’t be able to overtake.
The championship is now a slightly more realistic goal. As
long as there is a chance I will keep fighting.”
James THOMPSON
“It was always going to be a tough race because I was
starting on the outside line. The only real chance we had
of winning was to be on pole and make a gap in the early stages
of the race. I thought I might have chance to overtake in
the last five laps but the wily old fox kept me at bay.”
Colin TURKINGTON
“That was a very special result for me and the team
and I am delighted to have got on the podium. I honestly didn’t
expect it. The race was tough because I was under pressure
from SEAT cars in front and behind.”
Pierre-Yves CORTHALS
“My objective was clear – to win the independent
race. I didn’t want to get caught up with Huff and Priaulx.
It is amazing that I was the best finishing petrol SEAT and
it shows my team is progressing very well.”
RACE CLASSIFICATION - RACE 1
Car 27 not eligible to score Championship points
These results are provisional until the conclusion of any
judicial and technical matters.
POS NO CL DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH BEST
1 8 Alain MENU SUI Chevrolet Lacetti 26:48.377 16 132.68 1:34.187
2 15 James THOMPSON GBR Alfa Romeo 156 26:49.036 16 0.659
132.62 1:34.171
3 27 Colin TURKINGTON GBR BMW 320si 26:49.332 16 0.955 132.60
1:34.081
4 12 Yvan MULLER FRA SEAT Leon TDI 26:50.538 16 2.161 132.50
1:33.980
5 9 Jordi GENE ESP SEAT Leon TDI 26:51.376 16 2.999 132.43
1:34.166
6 6 Robert HUFF GBR Chevrolet Lacetti 26:51.594 16 3.217 132.41
1:34.321
7 1 Andy PRIAULX GBR BMW 320si 26:52.645 16 4.268 132.33 1:34.357
8 23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS BEL SEAT Leon 26:53.354 16 4.977
132.27 1:34.273
9 5 Felix PORTEIRO ESP BMW 320si 26:55.326 16 6.949 132.11
1:34.310
10 11 Gabriele TARQUINI ITA SEAT Leon 26:56.742 16 8.365 131.99
1:34.373
11 3 Augusto FARFUS BRA BMW 320si 26:57.290 16 8.913 131.95
1:34.394
12 19 I Roberto COLCIAGO ITA SEAT Leon 26:59.585 16 11.208
131.76 1:34.473
13 20 Tom CORONEL NED SEAT Leon 27:00.049 16 11.672 131.72
1:34.886
14 2 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320si 27:00.166 16 11.789 131.71
1:34.519
15 4 Alessandro ZANARDI ITA BMW 320si 27:01.993 16 13.616
131.56 1:34.689
16 30 I Luca RANGONI ITA BMW 320si 27:04.932 16 16.555 131.32
1:34.452
17 26 I Stefano D'ASTE ITA BMW 320si 27:06.838 16 18.461 131.17
1:34.704
18 31 I Sergio HERNANDEZ ESP BMW 320si 27:09.431 16 21.054
130.96 1:34.970
19 10 Michel JOURDAIN MEX SEAT Leon 27:10.050 16 21.673 130.91
1:35.180
20 16 Olivier TIELEMANS NED Alfa Romeo 156 27:16.352 16 27.975
130.41 1:35.418
21 18 Tiago MONTEIRO POR SEAT Leon 27:05.833 15 1 LAP 123.05
1:34.271
NOT CLASSIFIED
22 I Maurizio CERESOLI ITA SEAT Leon 19:12.377 11 D.N.F. 127.34
1:35.209
34 I Massimiliano PEDALA ITA SEAT Leon 28:13.216 6 N.C.F.
47.30 1:35.859
45 I Sergey KRYLOV RUS SEAT Leon 0 D.N.F. N/A
7 Nicola LARINI ITA Chevrolet Lacetti 0 D.N.F. N/A
FASTEST LAP
12 Yvan MULLER SEAT Leon TDI 1:33.980 5 141.84kph 88.14mph
23 I Pierre-Yves CORTHALS SEAT Leon 1:34.273 5 141.40kph 87.86mph
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