19.10.2003 GABRIELE TARQUINI CLINCHES THE TITLE BY A SINGLE POINT AFTER TWO DRAMA PACKED RACES

RACE 2

Nineteen cars took the start. Those of García, Couto and Dirk Müller did not, too badly damaged to be repaired. At the start Giovanardi took the lead, darting ahead of pole sitter De Micheli. Again, there was a collision at the first chicane: Tarquini hit Huisman who spun, collecting Priaulx.

On lap 2, Giovanardi was leading, closely chased by Tarquini, Jörg Müller and Coronel. On lap 3, Tarquini overtook Giovanardi for the lead at the first chicane; a few moments later Jörg Müller and Coronel also got past the 2002 ETCC champion. On lap 4, Thompson retired from seventh, due to a blown engine. On lap 5, Jörg Müller jumped into the lead, overtaking Tarquini at the Ascari.

On lap 6, Coronel stole second position from Tarquini at Lesmo. Colciago, who had recovered to fifth position, went off at La Roggia. Tarquini recovered second place at the Parabolica. Tarquini tried to pull out, but at the beginning of the eighth, and last-but-one lap, Jörg Müller and Coronel performed a perfect slipstreaming on the straight, and both managed to pass the Italian at the braking of the first chicane.

This was for good, Jörg Müller claimed his fifth win of the season from Coronel and Tarquini, who secured the Drivers’ Championship by only one point. Larini, Giovanardi and Priaulx were classified fourth, fifth and seventh, with the Briton claiming the third position in the Championship classification. Alex Zanardi obtained a remarkable seventh place, which gave him two championship points, while De Micheli scored another point by finishing eighth.

After the race, Huisman lodged a protest against Tarquini, referring to the collision at the first chicane. After having heard the drivers and seen the video, the Stewards decided that it was a normal race accident and did not take actions.

RACE 1

Ruberti’s Alfa 156GTA was towed back to the pits after it stopped along the track with gearbox problems. At the start, a massive pile-up involved eight cars: García, Diefenbacher, Francia, Zanardi, Couto and Yvan Muller were forced to retire, Huisman rejoined at the back of the pack, while Gené pitted for repairs.

The Dirk Müller-Jörg Müller tandem set the pace, chased by Colciago, Thompson, Priaulx and Coronel. Twentieth on the grid, Tarquini completed the first lap in eighth position after he managed to escape the carnage at the first chicane. On lap 4, Colciago was catching the Müllers. On lap 5, Jörg jumped into the lead; a few moments later, Colciago was alongside Dirk at the exit of La Roggia chicane. The two cars clashed, Dirk’s BMW spun and crashed into the barrier. During the following lap, Colciago and Thompson got past Jörg Müller, demoting him to third.

The positions seemed frozen, with the Colciago-Thompson duo in a comfortable lead and the BMW trio Jörg Müller-Priaulx-Coronel behind. However Tarquini was closing the gap. Suddenly, on the 8 lap, Jörg Müller slowed down due to a puncture, and was forced to get back to the pits. Which promoted Priaulx, Coronel and Tarquini to third, fourth and fifth.

Colciago won the race on the track, but later the Stewards excluded him because of the accident with Dirk Müller, meaning that Thompson claimed his first ETCC win, with Priaulx and Coronel joining him on the podium. Huisman, Giovanardi. De Micheli and Engström scored the remaining points, which were the first for both De Micheli on his first race in the Scuderia Bigazzi Alfa 156GTA and Engström in the PRO Motorsport Honda Civic.