05.09.2004 Two wins for Gabriele Tarquini as the Alfa Romeo's dominate, bounce the defending champion right back into the title race: FIA ETCC race report from Imola
Alfa Romeo was back in a dominating way on his home ground,
before a large and cheering crowd.
The AutoDelta red cars finished 1-2-3 in both races, like in
Valencia earlier this year, though Augusto Farfus’s was later penalized
in the second race.
Gabriele Tarquini came home twice in first, and significantly closed the gap
from the championship lead. The Italian driver, who was fourth in the Drivers’
classification, 20 points behind, before Imola, moved up to second and reduced
the gap to 7 points only.
Dirk Müller retained the lead, while Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx are now equal
in third place, only one point behind Tarquini. The Championship is still wide
opened, with four drivers in 8 points, with four rounds to go.
The first race was quite uneventful, nearly anaesthetized by Alfa Romeo
supremacy. Tarquini and Giovanardi led from the lights to the flag, and
only Farfus’s third place was endangered by Gené, Priaulx and Tavano.
Race 2 was a totally different story, with the BMWs on top of the reverse grid,
and the Alfas obliged to fight their way through the field. A number of
overtaking manoevers thrilled the crowd, until the race turned to drama.
After two collisions eliminated J. Müller and Priaulx, a spectacular pile-up in
front of the main grandstand involved Zanardi, Tavano and D’Aste, resulting in a
safety-car period. Though the race was neutralized for three laps, this phase
turned to be crucial for the final result. And it might even influence the title
fight because of the additional point earned by D. Müller.
Farfus did not comply with the safety-car procedure, as he let the distance
between the Tarquini-Giovanardi duo and his own car exceed the 5-car length. The
Stewards imposed him a drive-through penalty which cannot be appealed, because
the penalty was given at the end of the race, it was turned into a 30-second
time penalty.
In the Independents Trophy, Oregon Team’s Salvatore Tavano won the first race,
but the hero of the day was Alessandro Balzan, who won the second race in the
JAS Motorsport Honda Civic, and also finished sixth overall, scoring his and
Honda’s first points of the season. Balzan has now moved to second in the
Trophy, 29 points behind Tom Coronel. Tavano’s team-mate, Michele Bartyan, came
home seventh in Race 2, also scoring his first championship points.
Three drivers – D’Aste, Grunert and Harrison,
16th, 17th and 20th after qualifying – were demoted to the back of the grid
because of engine changes. At the start the three Alfas managed to maintain the
top positions, while the BMWs were elbowing their way in the middle of the
field.
Tarquini was leading, chased by Giovanardi; Farfus and Gené were fighting for
third. During the first lap Rangoni went wide at the Villeneuve, ran over the
gravel and rejoined after dropping from 7th to 19th, but then retired.
Farfus managed to reject Gené assault, while
Priaulx was closely chasing Tavano. On lap 2, J. Müller overtook García moving
up to second; Rydell stole ninth from Balzan. A group of six drivers – García,
Rydell, Balzan, Diefenbacher, Coronel and D. Müller – was involved in a
breathtaking fight for the eighth position, which was worth the pole for the
second race.
On lap 3, D. Müller overtook Coronel. On lap 4, Diefenbacher overtook Balzan,
but the Italian regained the 10th position, with D. Müller and Coronel trying to
benefit from the situation. The duo Tarquini-Giovanardi increased its leading
gap, while Rydell was biting García’s rear bumper.
On lap 7, Rydell hit the tyres at the Villeneuve chicane and immediately lost two positions to D. Müller and Balzan, dropping from ninth to 11th. Zanardi won two places overtaking Bartyan and Diefenbacher. Moving up to 13th.
Farfus was sweating to defend his third position from the assaults of Gené, Tavano and Priaulx. On lap 10, Priaulx was able to dive inside Tavano at the exit of the Tosa, and finally got past him at the Piratella. D. Müller overtook García, winning a crucial eighth position and the right to start from the pole in Race 2.
Tarquini, Giovanardi and Farfus claimed an important 1-2-3 for Alfa, while Gené, Priaulx, Tavano (first of the Independents), J. and D. Müller scored the remaining points.
RACE 2
The Müllers and Priaulx took the
lead at the start, chased by Tavano, Gené and Giovanardi. On the first lap, the
latter overtook Gené: J. Müller was leading, but he lost his car at the Variante
Alta and wento onto the grass. He rejoined but collided with García a few
hundred metres further on; both remained stranded in the gravel trap. D. Müller
inherited the lead, from Priaulx and Giovanardi, who had overtaken Gené and
Tavano.
On lap 2, Giovanardi took the lead, passing Priaulx at the
Villeneuve and than D. Müller at the Variante Alta. Tarquini moved up to fourth,
overtaking Gené and Tavano. The latter slipped down from fourth to seventh,
behind Farfus. Coronel was closely chasing him in eighth position, followed by a
train of five cars: Rydell, Balzan, Zanardi, D’Aste and Bartyan.
On lap 3, Farfus overtook Gené at the Tosa. Tarquini jumped Priaulx at the
Piratella and moved on to third. The Englishman lost two other positions to
Farfus and Gené, then collided with Tavano at the Variante Bassa and retired.
On lap 4, Zanardi spun off at the Variante Bass, brushed Coronel
and hit Tavano, who was T-boned by D’Aste. The safety-car intervened, while
Tavano was rescued, and escaped with aching back and ribs. The other two were
unscathed: “I don’t know what happened, it seemed I have lost my brakes,”
Zanardi said. The safety car circulated for three lap and the race restarted
with four to go.
On lap 8, Tarquini took the lead from Giovanardi at the Tosa. In
the final three laps the SEATs of Gené and Rydell were chasing closely D. Müller,
who managed to resist. Tarquini, Giovanardi and Farfus encored their 1-2-3,
however the Brazilian youngster was penalized by 30 seconds, and demoted to
11th, for creating a gap during the safety-car phase which enabled his two
team-mates to pull away.
Thus D. Müller was classified third, from Gené and Rydell. Balzan won the
Independents Trophy scoring his and Honda’s first points in the season. Bartyan
and Diefenbacher claimed the last two positions in the points.
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