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BMW had another fantastic weekend, winning two races and claiming
five podium positions out of six. With these results, BMW Team Deutschland’s
drivers jumped into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, with Jörg Müller two
points ahead of Dirk Müller.
In the Manufacturers’ Championship, BMW has already a solid 31-point lead on
Alfa Romeo.
The first race was won by BMW Great Britain’s
Andy Priaulx, who flew away after overtaking BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Antonio
García. When the latter spun off, Dirk Müller and Jordi Gené inherited second
and third places.
Race two was a tough fight between García and the Müllers; the Spaniard led
eight of the 11 races before handing the lead to Jörg Müller for good.
SEAT Sport finally started reaping the fruits
of their work. After Gené had claimed pole position on Saturday, he fought for
the top positions in Race 1, and eventually came home third. It was SEAT’s first
podium of the season, but also both Frank Diefenbacher in 5th and Rickard Rydell
in 8th managed to finish in the points. In the second race Rydell was also on
pole, and led for a few hundred meters. Again, he and Gené scored points.
The German meeting turned to nightmare for Alfa Romeo, as the three AutoDelta
cars eliminated each other in a collision during the first lap.
Only Gabriele Tarquini was able to restart in the second race, managing to score
three points which are keeping him in the title fight.
Race 1
From the pole, Gené made a good start, but García and Priaulx
did better and made the pace. At the braking zone of the Parabolika, a pile-up
involved all the three AutoDelta cars of Farfus, Giovanardi and Tarquini, plus
Mollekens’s BMW. Both, the Brazilian and the Belgian were out of the race, while
Giovanardi and Tarquini rejoined. Harrison also retired after a
clash with Rydell. García was leading, from Priaulx, Gené, D. Müller,
Diefenbacher and J. Müller.
The fight for the lead intensified, as Priaulx and García swapped
positions three times in as many corners, finally the Briton prevailed and took
the lead on lap three. Giovanardi and Grunert retired, the former with
transmission problems, the latter having broken a wheel-hub in a clash with
Ruokonen, who lost one lap while pitting for repairs. Lap five saw J. Müller
overtake Diefenbacher and move up to fifth.
On lap six, Gené tried to outbrake García, but ran wide and soon
afterwards García spun and dropped down the order, finding himself then involved
in a fight with Rangoni, Tavano, Coronel and Rydell. Behind them, Rosenblad,
D’Aste and Magnussen were fighting for the 11th place. On lap seven, D. Müller
stole second position from Gené while Asch pulled out due to a gravel damaging
his oil radiator. Lap eight and D’Aste hit Rosenblad, both immediately retired.
Balzan and Zanardi had a close battle for 12th and 13th position.
Rydell managed to pass Coronel on lap nine and Tavano on lap ten, to claim
eighth position and pole position for the second race. Priaulx scored his
second series win in a row from D. Müller and Genè, who gave SEAT its first
podium of the season. J. Müller, Diefenbacher, Rangoni, the first of the
Independents, García and Rydell claimed the remaining points. During the final
lap, Magnussen overtook Coronel and finished in the top-ten for the first time.
Race 2
Five cars were missing from the grid, the Alfa Romeos
of Giovanardi and Farfus, the Fords of Grunert and Asch, the BMW of D’Aste.
Pole sitter on the reverse grid, Rydell took a good start and the lead,
but he was outbraked by García during the first lap. J. Müller was leading the
rest of the field, with Diefenbacher, D. Müller, Rangoni, Priaulx and Gené in
his heels.
Diefenbacher, on lap two, locked up his front wheels and ran wide,
damaging the rear bumper and losing two places. On lap three, J. Müller took
second position from Rydell; Balzan overtook Zanardi, moving up to tenth. The
next time around, D. Müller outbraked Rydell for third place, while Gené passed
Rangoni for sixth. Diefenbacher spun off and retired, Balzan also retired with a
broken suspension. A lap later Rydell lost another place to Priaulx.
Lap six saw Magnussen overtake Mollekens for 11th position. Priaulx
slowed down, his car damaged after a collision with Rangoni, and he retired on
the following lap. On lap eight, Gené overtook Rydell and moved up to fourth.
The leaders, García, J. Müller and D. Müller, were in a close fight. Tarquini
passed Coronel and Rangoni to break into the points.
The following lap García lost his lead and slipped down to third,
having been passed by J. Müller first and then by D. Müller soon afterwards.
Tarquini was closing in on the SEATs, with Rangoni in tow. On the penultimate
lap J. Müller and D. Müller nearly to collided, and on the following lap, Dirk
tried again, but Jörg shut the door.
García took advantage from the situation, and muscled his way to a second place
finish between Jörg and Dirk. Gené and Rydell were classified fourth and fifth,
with Tarquini sixth. Rangoni next across the line won the Independents Trophy
again, from Coronel, who secured the last point. |
