The FIA European Touring Car Championship is heading to France, and Magny-Cours after the third and fourth rounds, in Valencia, were dominated by Alfa Romeo works cars.

In the two Spanish races, AutoDelta drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Fabrizio Giovanardi shared out the wins and second places between themselves, while their young team-mate Augusto Farfus completed Alfa’s triumph with two third positions.

These results propelled Tarquini and Giovanardi to the top of the Drivers’ Championship, where they are placed first and second, with 28 and 26 points respectively. The former leader, BMW’s Jörg Müller, has slipped down to third position, with 22 points.

Alfa Romeo also overturned the Manufacturers’ Championship classification, and is now leading with a 7-point margin from BMW. The Alfa Romeo domination in Valencia continued in the Independents Trophy, with Oregon Team’s Salvatore Tavano winning both races.

After Valencia, the Alfa 156 S2000 cars are clearly the favourite, however both Tarquini and Giovanardi will be carrying the maximum handicap weight (40 kg), while Farfus and J. Müller will have 10 kg. With the red cars heavily laden with penalty weight, the BMW drivers and those from SEAT, will be keen to claim their revenge. 

In Magny-Cours the field will increase to 25 cars, with the addition of Kurt Molleken’s BMW 320i, run by RBM under the flag of BMW Team Belgium-Luxemburg. Another point of interest is the debut of the new JAS Motorsport Honda Accord 2.0i, driven by Alessandro Balzan.

The French circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours will host the FIA ETCC for the fourth consecutive year. Since the introduction of the current Super 2000 cars, in 2002, Alfa Romeo and BMW have scored two wins apiece: Giovanardi won both races in 2002, while J. Müller did the same last year.

The ETCC has visited France 15 times so far, on five different locations. In the early Sixties, the hillclimb to Mont Ventoux counted for the championship. In the early Seventies the ETCC came back on the newly-built circuit of Paul Ricard.

In the Eighties, Nogaro welcomed the ETCC four times, including 1988, when France hosted two rounds, the second of them in Dijon-Prenois. Since the championship was relived in 2001, it has always raced in Magny-Cours.