After the fierce battle between Alfa Romeo and BMW in Monza, the second meeting of the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship turned to an all-Alfa parade.

Since the qualifying session, Autodelta drivers Gabriele Tarquini, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Augusto Farfus were in a league of their own.

And in today’s races they easily scored two 1-2-3 finishes in a dominating style. Tarquini and Giovanardi finished first and second in the first race, and encored in the second, though in reverse order, while Farfus claimed two third positions.

At the start the three Alfas managed to stay at the front, with Farfus chased by Giovanardi and Tarquini; behind them, Priaulx was fourth, ahead of D. Müller, García, J. Müller and Zanardi.

Diefenbacher almost stalled the engine and drove wide onto the gravel of the first corner; his team-mates Gené and Rydell were both eliminated in a collision with Coronel, who was later blamed by the Stewards. Diefenbacher’s remaining SEAT retired after three laps with engine problems.

The third lap saw Farfus make a mistake, and lose two positions to Giovanardi and Tarquini. The latter managed to take the lead, passsing Giovanardi on the fourth lap. Meanwhile, J. Müller overtook García for sixth place and Tavano did the same with Coronel, moving up to ninth.

Magnussen’s Peugeot was coming up quickly, and the Dane overtook Balzan for 11th position. Grunert’s Ford Focus pulled out with transmission problems.

Tavano won another position from Zanardi on lap five, while Magnussen overtook Coronel and break into the top-ten. Due to transmission problems,

Bartyan went off into the gravel trap and retired from 13th. Coronel regained the 10th place from Magnussen; they kept on in a close fight, together with Balzan. Tarquini created a gap, while a recovering Rangoni moved up to 13th, passing D’Aste and Klenke on lap 8.

Rangoni retired due to a broken wheel hub on lap nine, the consequence of an early collision. The three Autodelta drivers paraded to the end, with Priaulx in fourth position and best of the rest.

Tavano came home in eighth position, winning the Independents’ classification. Magnussen and Peugeot finished their first ETCC race in a very promising 11th place, ahead of Balzan’s Honda Civic and Klenke’s Ford Focus.

Race 2

Further to the technical problems experienced in the first race, Grunert’s Ford, Diefenbacher’s SEAT and Bartyan’s Alfa did not make the grid for the second.

At the start the three BMW cars of García, J. Müller and D. Müller sprinted to take the lead, jumping Tavano, pole sitter on the reverse grid. The Oregon Team’s driver lost three other positions on the opening lap, to Giovanardi, Priaulx and Tarquini. Magnussen had a good start and was chasing Zanardi, Farfus and Coronel.

The second lap saw Tarquini overtook Priaulx for fifth, while Magnussen retired further to a collision with D’Aste. On the main straight, the Alfas of Giovanardi and Tarquini jumped the BMW of D. Müller, who dropped from third to fifth. Giovanardi attacked J. Müller‘s second position, but the German resisted and they nearly clashed.

However, on lap three, both Giovanardi and Tarquini managed to overtake J. Müller. One more lap and the two Alfa men took the lead from García. Their team-mate Farfus was recovering, he clashed with J. Müller who hit García, sending him into a spin. The Spaniard rejoined in 10th position, while Farfus moved up to third.