N.Technology Alfa Romeo concluded a tough weekend with a solid fifth place finish in Sunday afternoon's tenth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), courtesy of their lead driver James Thompson. The meeting at Brno in the Czech Republic had promised much as Thompson had set the fastest time in the second free practice session on Saturday morning but low grid slots left the Briton and his young Dutch team man Olivier Tielemans with much work to do to make up ground come race day.

Race 1 (Round 9)

Both N.Technology drivers proved their overtaking abilities on a difficult track on Sunday morning during round nine of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Overtaking five cars throughout the race, Alfa Romeo 156 driver Thompson narrowly missed out on pole position for the second race, eventually finishing ninth. Team-mate Tielemans meanwhile fought hard during the 10-lap race, climbing as high as 16th at one point but an incident saw him finish the race in 19th place.

James Thompson: “I was right behind Yvan Muller but got hit and spun at the beginning of the race. I lost a few places but made them up lap by lap. I had some damage which is a shame because I could have been higher up.” 

Olivier Tielemans: “I was fighting during the whole race and managed to overtake a few people but eventually got stuck behind slower cars which I couldn’t overtake. I hope I have better luck during the next race. The car is definitely fast enough to get a good result.”

Marco Calovolo, Technical Director: “Our performance was much better today than in qualifying; we found a good set-up and are in a position to get strong results. It’s a shame we didn’t have that yesterday because we would have had good results today.”

Race 2 (round 10)

The 33-year-old Thompson overtook three cars into sixth place on his first lap, with fifth position following soon after thanks to a stop-go penalty for second-place Alessandro Zanardi. Pushing hard to improve his position, the Briton chased Gabriele Tarquini for fourth place during the remainder of the race.
 

However he wasn't able to catch the Italian former Alfa Romeo factory driver before the chequered flag was waved. Meanwhile, after a difficult start forced Tielemans to the back of the grid, the rookie worked his way through the field with some confident overtaking moves to finish 17th.

James Thompson: "I really went for it at the start of the race but realised that the BMW pace is in a different league this weekend and had to settle for fifth because Tarquini kept enough of a gap in front of me in the SEAT. Going from 14th at the start of the weekend to 5th this afternoon is good going though! We keep adding points to our tally; we got more points this weekend than in Pau and that´s the most important thing."  

Olivier Tielemans: "I pushed really hard for the whole race after a not very good start. I spent the race chasing whoever was in front to overtake but had to protect my position quite a bit too!"

FIA WTCC Brno Race 1 Result: 1. Félix Porteiro (SPA), BMW 320si; 2. Jörg Mueller (GER), BMW 320si; 3. Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) BMW 320si; 4. Augusto Farfus (BRA), BMW 320si; 5. Nicola Larini (ITA), Chevrolet Lacetti; 6. Yvan Muller (FRA), SEAT Leόn; 7. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA), SEAT Leόn; 8. Alain Menu (CH), Chevrolet Lacetti; 9. James Thompson (GBR), Alfa Romeo 156; 19. Olivier Tielemans (NED), Alfa Romeo 156.

FIA WTCC Brno Race 2 Result: 1. Jörg Mueller (GER), BMW 320si; 2. Augusto Farfus (BRA), BMW 320si; 3. Félix Porteiro (SPA), BMW 320si; 4. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA), SEAT Leόn; 5. James Thompson (GBR), Alfa Romeo 156; 6. Nicola Larini (ITA), Chevrolet Lacetti; 7. Andy Priaulx (GBR), BMW 320si; 8. Jordi Gené (SPA), SEAT Leόn; 17. Olivier Tielemans (NED), Alfa Romeo 156.

Round 11 and 12 of the 2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship will take place in Porto, Portugal on 8 July 2007.