The N.Technology Alfa Romeo drivers wrapped up the two day official FIA World Touring Car Championship Monza tests by the claiming fastest times in five of the six sessions held over the two-day duration. However, Andy Priaulx topped the overall time sheets in his BMW Team UK BMW 320si, after posting the fastest lap over the two days with only two minutes left in the final session. Second and third fastest today were N.Technology Alfa Romeo team-mates Salvatore Tavano and Augusto Farfus, who both of whom set their best laps during the morning session.

Thirty four drivers took part in the second day of the official FIA WTCC testing at Monza today. SEAT factory driver Gabriele Tarquini missed two sessions out of three due to a slight indisposition, while 26-year-old Scotsman Ryan Sharp made his first appearance at the wheel of a Honda Accord, having signed a deal with JAS Motorsport to race alongside Pierre-Yves Corthals for the season.

Monza Test Session 5

Test session number five saw four red flags during its hour duration. Jirí Janák from the Czech Republic in an Alfa 156 was the cause of the first flag period as he went wide at a corner and his car had to be recovered. Jens Edman from Sweden, and Italian Luca Rangoni both stopped on the track during the session causing two more interruptions.

Despite all this, Augusto Farfus managed to keep Alfa Romeo at the top of the timesheets, taking over from team mate Tavano's morning performace, and setting a time of 2:01.361 early on in the session. This was to be the fastest overall. Tom Coronel completed a lap 0.558 of a second slower in a SEAT Toldeo to occupy second place while Jörg Müller’s BMW was third quickest with Priaulx in a similar car fourth. Farfus' team-mates Gianni Morbidelli and Salvatore Tavano set the 5th and 7th times respectively with Marcel Costa being sandwiched in between in 6th. Alain Menu was 12th overall, and the fastest of the Chevrolets, with a time of 2:02.645.
 

Monza Test Session 6

The last test session of the day and the meeting, was stopped once, halfway through, when Augusto Farfus went off the track. The hour was dominated by the official BMW drivers. BMW Team Italy-Spain’s rookie Marcel Costa topped the times until the red flag, with a lap in 2:01.396. However, after the session was restarted he was demoted to third place by Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller. With only two minutes to go, both Priaulx and Jörg improved again to 2:00.688 and 2:01.247 posting the fastest and the fourth fastest time over the two days.

Fourth and fifth fastest in the session were two highly impressive independent drivers: Alessandro Balzan, in the DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156, and Tom Coronel at the wheel of a GR Asia SEAT Toledo.

FIA WTCC Monza Test Overall Fastest Times (combined, sessions 1-6): 1st Andy Priaulx (BMW) 2:00.688; 2nd Salvatore Tavano (Alfa Romeo) 2:01.173; 3rd Augusto Farfus (Alfa Romeo) 2:01.237; 4th Jörg Müller (BMW) 2:01.247; 5th Marcel Costa (BMW) 2:01.396; 6th Tom Coronel (SEAT) 2:01.398; 7th Alessandro Balzan (Alfa Romeo) 2:01.500; 8th Emanuele Naspetti (BMW) 2:01.540; 9th Stefano D'Aste (BMW) 2:01.643; 10th Peter Terting (SEAT) 2:01.747; Selected: 14th Gianni Morbidelli (Alfa Romeo) 2:01.827; 16th Adriano De Micheli (Alfa Romeo) 2:01.964; 29th Riccardo Romagnoli (Alfa Romeo) 2:03.368; 31st Jirí Janák (Alfa Romeo) 2:04.440.