21.09.2003 BMW WIN BOTH RACES IN OSCHERSLEBEN AS GABRIELE TARQUINI'S TITLE CHANCES TAKE A DIVE

Four cars were missing from the grid: the three Alfa Romeos of Ruberti, Huber and Stahl, plus Sardelli’s Volvo. Coronel hold the pole on the reversed grid, but at the end of the warm up lap the Dutchman steered from his starting spot onto the grass. A driveshaft was broken and the race director called a delayed start. The Carly Motors’ mechanics worked frantically, and managed to replace the piece, giving Coronel the chance to take the restart from the end of the pit lane. When the red lights turned off, Giovanardi jumped into the lead, chased by Priaulx, García, Colciago, Diefenbacher, Jörg Müller, Dirk Müller and Tarquini. Suddenly the fight for the positions turned to very tough. Dirk Müller got the worst of a collision with Tarquini and slipped from seventh to tenth. 

On lap 2 Diefenbacher overtook Colciago for fourth, and closed on the leading trio Giovanardi-Priaulx-García. Jörg Müller, Tarquini and Gené swapped paints while battling for sixth position. The Alfa Romeo man proved the toughest in the game, and muscled his way ahead of Jörg Müller. Suddenly, at the end of the fourth lap, Giovanardi opened the door on the pit straight, letting Priaulx and García through. Diefenbacher also slipped in, moving up to third. Tarquini and Jörg Müller overtook Colciago, demoting him to seventh; it was a difficult moment for Colciago, who lost two other places to Dirk Müller and Coronel. However the Italian managed to retake eighth position from the Dutchman.

On lap 8, Tarquini and Jörg Müller gained another position overtaking Giovanardi, who was forced to retire when a tyre exploded, further to a contact with Tarquini. During the same lap, Dirk Müller went off when the damaged front spoiler of his car prevented him from steering; Gené, who followed, was taken by surprise and drove wide into the gravel trap. The Spaniard rejoined at the back of the field. On lap 9, in the Sachsen-Anhalt Kurve, Tarquini went wide and was passed by Jörg Müller; but the Italian got ahead again on the straight. Two laps later, in the same corner, Jörg Müller passed again, for good. On lap 10 Couto retired with transmission problems. 

Eventually Priaulx and García were able to leave Diefenbacher behind; the two BMW drivers finished in the order, while their chaser obtained an invaluable third place for SEAT. Jörg Müller and Tarquini were classified fourth and fifth, with Colciago in sixth. Huisman came home in seventh position, claiming another win in the Independents Trophy. The eighth position and the last point went to Larini. As for Rydell, a last lap puncture demoted him from ninth to 13th. 

RACE 1

Tarquini’s car’s front wheels spun at the start, as the BMWs of Jörg Müller, Priaulx, García and Giovanardi dashed to fight for the lead. Ruberti’s Alfa stalled on the grid and remained on the spot. During the first lap Giovanardi overtook García for third position, but in a while Tarquini jumped both the BMW Team Italy-Spain’s drivers and claimed third. Jörg Müller was closely chased by Priaulx and Tarquini. Giovanardi, García, Dirk Müller, Colciago and Larini were fighting for fourth position. 

On lap 2, Dirk Müller drove wide on the grass at Turn 6 and slipped from sixth to eighth, handing two positions to Colciago and Larini. The BMW driver repeated the same mistake in the same corner two laps later, which demoted him to 11th. Also on lap 4, Jörg Müller went wide, taking by surprise Priaulx, who was stuck on his tail. The Briton drove on the grass and Tarquini managed to slip through, moving up to second. 

During the fifth lap, García overtook his team-mate Giovanardi for fourth. Colciago and Larini were chasing the 2002 ETCC champion very closely. Coronel was defending his eighth position from the attacks of Diefenbacher’s and Gené’s SEAT Toledos. Diefenbacher was pushing hard and managed to overtake Coronel on lap 7, moving up to eight. On lap 8 Stahl retired with engine problems after he went off the track. On lap 9 Colciago got past Giovanardi for fifth. Meanwhile Priaulx and García were closely chasing Tarquini, and this gave Jörg Müller the opportunity to stretch his leading margin. On lap 11 Huber retired, the radiator of his Alfa damaged after he went off. Larini was stuck on the tail of Giovanardi’s car when, on lap 13, a puncture forced him to the pit. On the same lap the engine of Sardelli’s Volvo gave up. 

Under the chequered flag, Jörg Müller led Tarquini by 0.7 seconds, while Priaulx finished third from García and Colciago. Diefenbacher claimed a sixth place for SEAT, and also his first points in the Drivers Championship. Coronel was classified seventh, first of the Independent drivers. Giovanardi lost a couple of positions during the last lap and scored the last point. In the picture: Jörg Müller’s joy on the podium. 

DRIVER QUOTES

Sebastian STAHL: “The car was good and I was not nervous. I took a good start and overtook Sardelli on the second lap. Then I was chasing Couto, who was very fast on the straight. I had to push in the corners to catch him. Probably I pushed too much, and I went off. I managed to rejoin, but something was wrong with the engine, and I was forced to retire.” 

Gabriele TARQUINI: “I lost three points from the leader, but the positive thing is that we have survived a negative track for us. I’m quite happy, because I found a really good set-up, which was also adopted by my team-mates. I’m still alive to fight for the Championship, and the next two circuits should be better for us. Unfortunately I placed the first race in jeopardy, when I had too much wheelspin at the start. I lost more positions than usual. We will look at the data to see where I went wrong.” 

Nicola LARINI: “I knew that this was going to be a difficult weekend, because of the track and the 40 kg ballast. However I was aiming to finish both races in the points. And the first race was going along with my plans. I was in a position to finish fifth, but a puncture on the last-but-one lap spoiled everything. And there was not very much I could do in the second race. Now I’m 16 points behind the leader. It’s a lot. I might have a chance only should Jörg Müller hit a negative weekend like the one I had today.”