30.05.2004 Alfa Romeo come away virtually empty handed as the BMW runners dominate AGAIN: ETCC race report AND result from Brno
The fight for the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship
Drivers’ title seems close to become a BMW family affair. In the 9th and 10th
rounds of the series, the winning streak of the German Manufacturer was
stretched to a sixth consecutive success.
And now three BMW drivers are leading the classification, Dirk Müller is first,
Andy Priaulx second with a four-point gap, and Jörg Müller third, two further
points behind. BMW has also increased its leading margin in the Manufacturers’
Championship.
In the first race, Andy Priaulx took the best start and flew away, while Rickard Rydell, Dirk Müller and Antonio García had a tough fight for second position. Priaulx claimed his third race win of the season, while Rydell gave SEAT its first second place in the ETCC.
The second race was even tougher, with Jörg Müller taking an early leadership, and Frank Diefenbacher ousting him to lead four laps, before being passed by Dirk Müller and Priaulx. A long queue of drivers out of the Stewards room testified how much the race was hot and packed with collisions. The major effect was a 30-second penalty which deprived Rydell of his fifth place in Race two.
Like in Hockenheim, the Alfa Romeo drivers remained out of the podium, and Gabriele Tarquini, best-placed AutoDelta man in the points, scored no points. The reigning champion is now twenty points from the leader.
Tom Coronel and his Carly Motors BMW struck back and won both the Independents’ races, which were also very tough, with Luca Rangoni and Carl Rosenblad claiming a second position apiece, and Alessandro Balzan twice in third.
Race 1
D. Müller took a prefect start, squeezing between pole-sitter
Rydell and Priaulx. The latter managed to keep the inside line and take the
lead, with Rydell on his tow. D. Müller was third, chased by García, Gené,
Giovanardi and Coronel. During the first lap, J. Müller overtook Tarquini for
the eighth position; while Zwaart lost one wheel, came back to the pits for
repairs and rejoined.
On lap 2, Priaulx was able to increase his leading margin to 1.5
seconds, while Tarquini was closely chasing J. Müller. Balzan overtook Zanardi
for the 15th position, while Ruokonen retired with gearbox problems. On lap 3,
the fight for third position became hotter: García overtook D. Müller; Gené
drove wide and lost five positions to Giovanardi, Coronel, J. Müller, Tarquini
and Diefenbacher. His troubles were not over yet, as he was given a drive
through penalty for jump start.
On lap 7, Priaulx’s leading margin steadied at 2.5 seconds, while
García was closing in on Rydell. On lap 9, Gené’s bad luck hit again and the
Spaniard retired with a broken rim. On the 10th and last lap, Balzan overtook
Tavano moving up to 13th, while Zanardi went off after a collision with D’Aste.
Magnussen and Rosenblad were fighting hard for the 17th place, and overtook each
other several times.
Priaulx crossed the line with a 3-second margin, scoring his third win of the
season, from Rydell and García; D. Müller, Giovanardi, Coronel (winner of the
Independents’ race), J. Müller and Diefenbacher filled the other positions in
the points. Tarquini finished ninth, just out of the point zone.
Race 2
Ruokonen’s Honda did not make the grid further to its gearbox
problem. Diefenbacher’s SEAT sat on pole on the reversed grid, but J. Müller
took the lead at the start. Behind him, Diefenbacher managed to stay in front of
both, Coronel on the outside and Giovanardi on the inside. During the first lap,
Rangoni went off into the gravel after a collision with Mollekens. J. Müller
seemed able to create a gap, while D. Müller, García, Giovanardi, Priaulx and
Rydell were in tough fight for fourth position.
On lap 2, Priaulx overtook García, moving up to sixth, while D.
Müller was closely following Coronel. Rydell lost two positions, from eighth to
tenth, when he was overtaken by Farfus and Tarquini. A few moments later the
Swede missed the braking point and hit Tarquini, sending him into the gravel
trap. On lap 3, Diefenbacher passed J. Müller and jumped into the lead;
Giovanardi overtook Coronel for fourth position.
On lap 4, Coronel lost another position to Priaulx; Grunert retired with engine
problems. The Müllers were on Diefenbacher’s tail, the three leaders covered by
half-a-second. On lap 5, Coronel slipped down to sixth, when García overtook
him. D. Müller moved up to second, Priaulx passed Giovanardi for fourth.
Magnussen retired after a clash with Bartyan, and Gené following a collision
with Zanardi.
On lap 6, D. Müller took command overtaking Diefenbacher. On lap 7,
Farfus went off after a collision with García. On lap 8, Priaulx dived inside J.
Müller first, and then Diefenbacher, climbing to second. On lap 9, Mollekens
stole eighth position to Coronel. In vain Priaulx tried to get past D. Müller,
who won the race, his second success of the season, with a two-tenths margin.
Diefenbacher finished third, meaning another podium for SEAT, from J. Müller,
Rydell, Giovanardi, García and Coronel, again first of the Independents, and
Mollekens. Zanardi and Tavano were involved in a double collision.
After the race, the Stewards inflicted a 30-second time penalty to Rydell for
hitting Tarquini, demoting the Swede from to 12th, and also to Zanardi and
Tavano, for their last lap clash.
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