Colciago sprinted to take the lead from the pole, ahead of Dirk Müller, Tarquini and Giovanardi. Francia took a bad start and lost two positions, from fourth to sixth. At the first braking, Diefenbacher’s SEAT spun and hit Gené’s sister car; both the Toledos rejoined at the back, but with exstensive damages. 

The leading trio, Colciago- Dirk Müller-Tarquini, was chased by a group of five drivers: Giovanardi, Priaulx, Francia, Jörg Müller and Larini. A bit behind Balzan, Coronel and García were fighting for the ninth position. The action was packed, with Dirk Müller and Tarquini biting Colciago’s tail and putting pressure on him. At the same time Francia was closely chasing Priaulx, and Larini was attacking Jörg Müller. Diefenbacher and Gené retired and the SEAT team started repairing the cars for the second race. 

On lap 4 Giovanardi hit the tyres at the Schumacher chicane, damaging the front splitter of his BMW. At the end of the fifth lap, Colciago, Dirk Müller and Tarquini were within only 0.8 seconds, and they have managed to build a small margin ahead of their pursuers. With his car unbalanced, Giovanardi lost four position to Priaulx, Francia, Jörg Müller and Larini, slipping down from fourth to eighth. On lap 5 Couto retired due to brake problems; two laps later Cayrolle stopped after his car hit the barrier due to a puncture to the front left tyre. The fight for the lead intensified: Dirk Müller drove beyond the kerbs at the first chicane, while Colciago went wide at the exit of the Schumacher; the gap between them was reduced to 0.172 seconds at the end of the eighth lap. 

The three leaders continued to chase each others until the final lap, when Dirk tried a last attack, risking to lose his car at the fast chicane. They dived together on the finish line: Colciago scored his first win as an Alfa Romeo driver, with Dirk Müller and Tarquini second and third. Priaulx managed to defend his fourth position from Francia, who obtained an excellent fifth place overall and also won the Independents’ race. Jörg Müller and Larini were classified sixth and seventh, with Balzan in eight, scoring the last point and claiming pole position for the second race.

RACE 2

Balzan started well from the pole and took the lead, while a problem to the starting-light system caught by surprise a few drivers. Larini stalled his engine from the second spot of the grid and this caused a collision between Francia’s and Dirk Müller’s cars. At the exit of the first chicane, Jörg Müller jumped into the lead overtaking Balzan, while Tarquini passed Priaulx and moved on to third. At the end of the first lap Francia and Dirk Müller both retired for the consequences of their collision. Jörg Müller was pushing hard, but Tarquini came from behind: the Italian driver overtook Balzan for second position on lap 2 and managed to close on the BMW’s tail. Also on the same lap, Colciago stole third place from Balzan. 

On lap 3 Jörg Müller began having power-steering problems, due to a broken alternator belt, and Tarquini could pass him at the fast chicane. The German driver lost second place to Colciago at the following Schumacher chicane, then went into the gravel at the last chicane and finally came back to the pits and retired. On lap 4, Giovanardi spun at the first chicane while he was chasing Huisman for the eighth position. The Tarquini-Colciago duo was now in a comfortable lead, while Balzan was fighting hard to defend his third position from Priaulx. The latter was chased by Larini in fifth position. A few metres behind, Ruberti, Coronel, Huisman, García and Diefenbacher were battling for the sixth position. Couto retired, his Honda Civic still plagued by brake problems. On lap 7 Rydell retired due to an engine problem. On lap 8 Gené was also forced out of the race after he hit the tyres in a chicane. At the same time, SEAT’s other driver, Diefenbacher managed to break into the point-zone; he overtook Huisman and then Coronel, moving up to eighth. His moment of glory did not last long, because immediately afterwards he went off when a front tyre failed. 

While Tarquini and Colciago were cruising nose-to-tail to claim another win for Alfa Romeo in Pergusa, Priaulx tried a final move to pass Balzan for third, but the young Italian managed to resist, claiming his first podium in the championship and Scuderia Bigazzi’s best result since the ETCC adopted the Super 2000 regulations. Balzan also won the Independent drivers’ classification. Larini, Ruberti, García and Coronel obtained the last positions in the points.

Roberto COLCIAGO: “It was really a great weekend for me. I won the first race and did all the race with Dirk Müller following me. It was very difficult to keep him behind me. He had a few opportunities to attack me, but he did not take the risk. In the second race, I finished second behind Gabriele, which was a great result for the team. I was impressed by this young driver, Alessandro Balzan, who was really good in the beginning and who let me pass quite easily. He did a really good race. It is important that a young driver like him finishes in a good position. I am very happy as this was my first win for Alfa Romeo. Overall, it was a great weekend, although we have to look at the opposition as BMW was faster here than last year and they have good drivers!” 

Gabriele TARQUINI: “It was a wonderful weekend for Alfa Romeo. Our car suits this kind of track although BMW has managed to close the gap. The race performances were very close. We won a lot of points and now we are only five behind BMW in the Manufacturers Championship. Dirk was very good, especially in the Schumacher chicane, where he was much faster than Roberto and me. Therefore, it was very difficult for me to try to attack him and in the end I couldn’t overtake him. In the middle of the first race, I hit the tyres in a chicane and broke the front splitter. I lost some downforce. My front tyres went off and after a few laps, I was not that fast anymore. The second race was much easier, I managed to overtake Priaulx, Balzan and Jörg very early on, as I had Colciago behind me, to watch my back. We only had to avoid mistakes and get to the end of the race. Now we can see the championship in a different way. I’m leading the Drivers’ classification together with Jörg Müller and Alfa is only five points behind BMW in the Manufacturers’ classification.” 

Alessandro BALZAN: “My target at the start of the second race was to finish in the first five positions. My car was fantastic and this enabled me to be very was fast in the chicane. It was very difficult to keep Priaulx behind me, but the more he pushed, the faster I was able to go. If we look at our lap times towards the end of the race, they were very close to those set by Tarquini and Colciago. Mine were even faster than those I managed to obtain yesterday in the qualifying. I’m so happy for the team, because they have done a great job and they have well deserved this podium.” 

Fabio FRANCIA: “I’m obviously very happy with my result in the first race. Unfortunately I did not take a good start and, as I feared, I lost two places before the first corner. After Giovanardi hit the tyres in a chicane and slowed down, I tried to overtake Priaulx, who was blocking me, but I did not want to take too many risks and spoil a possible fifth place. So, in the end, I preferred to settle behind him. I was looking forward to doing even better in the second race, but when Larini stalled his engine at the start, there was a lot of confusion and I was hit by another car. I think it was Dirk Müller’s. The rear axle of my Alfa was totally twisted and I was forced to retire. It was a shame.”