The exciting new dawn that heralded the arrival of the FIA World Touring Car Championship finally erupted yesterday at Monza, and it was last year's ETCC protagonists Alfa Romeo, BMW and SEAT who once again resumed battle.

By the end of the two races Alfa Romeo and their arch-rivals BMW were neck and neck in the first WTCC points standings: the Italians ratcheting up 28 points, the Germans with a single point more. In the driver's series Dirk Muller left Monza with 18 points, while new full-time Alfa Romeo Racing Team pilot, James Thompson, had amassed 12 points, thanks to victory in race two.

These two now head to France for the  round's three and four, at Magny-Cours on 1st May, with 45kg and 35kg of 'success' ballast respectively, while BMW pilots Antonio Garcia and Andy Prilaux will also have to lug extra weight, in their case, 25kg and 10kg.

James Thompson

“The first race was disappointing. It was one of those occasions when qualifying didn’t go our way. Being 9th or 10th on the grid is always difficult but you have to go out with caution and score points for the championship. The second race was fantastic. I was disappointed with the first one but I knew the car was good and I wanted to benefit from the reverse grid for the second.
 

"Finishing 7th in the first race was not necessarily a bad thing. I planned to concentrate hard and get a good start which I did. It was very important that I passed Rydell early on and got a bit of a gap but it didn’t go quite according to plan as Dirk was behind me for most of the race. I think it was a fantastic show and I’m sure everyone will agree.”

Gabriele Tarquini

“In the first race Dirk was too quick for us and we did not manage to keep his pace. The second race looked promising, despite that I did not have a good start.  I was moving up, but when I tried to overtake Dirk at Lesmo he pushed me off.”

Augusto Farfus

“In the first race it was difficult to keep close to the BMW cars. In the second race I made a mistake and lost track on the first corner. The championship is long. We have a good car and a good team. I’m sure that like last year it will be decided in the last race of the last round.”