2002 FIA European Touring Car Championship
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2nd June 2002:  FIA European Touring Car Championship, Jarama ( Spain ), Round 7 & 8

Alfa Romeo's dominance of the European Touring Car Championship continues with a win and a second place apiece for Nicola Larini and championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi

race 2
 
Fabrizio Giovanardi and Nicola Larini in their Nordauto Alfa Romeo 156 GTA's fend off the BMWs of Jorg and Dirk MullerRace two saw Luis Villamil fail to make the grid with gearbox problems, much to the disapointment to the Spanish crowd. Romano Bernadoni, the Team Nordauto lady racer's car failing to have damage inflicted in race 1 repaired by the time the pitlane closed and she would start after the field had left.

Due to the top six reversing order, Tom Coronel in the Carly Motors Team Isert BMW lined up on pole position, ahead of the AGS Motorsport Alfa of Paolo Ruberti, with the Mullers occupying the second row and the works Nordauto drivers sitting behind them on row three.

At the green light Tom Coronel almost stalls his BMW and is swallowed up by the field, allowing front row starter Paolo Ruberti to lead the pack into the first corner, ahead of Dirk Muller, Jorge Muller, Larini, Giovanardi and Ekblom, a lead he is able to hold until Nicola Larini finally passed him into the Bugatti corner on lap 6.

By the end of lap 4 both the Nordauto Alfa drivers had got past Jorg and Dirk Muller, and by lap severn they were past Ruberti who quickly fell back into the clutches of the BMW pair. On lap eleven, in a combined move, the both got past Ruberti on successive corners, demoting the Italian driver to fifth place. The same lap saw Romana Bernadoni and Tom Ferrier retire their Alfas with gearbox problems.

Larini was able to maintain a small gap to team mate Giovanardi and they finished race two in reverse of race one. Paolo Ruberti meanwhile suffered gearbox problems towards the end of the race, completing the last lap in 2nd gear and seeing a points scoring position disappear as Ekblom and Kox got past him.

race 2 result:
POS DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH BEST
1 Nicola LARINI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 22:44.195 13   131.16 1:43.882
2 Fabrizio GIOVANARDI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 22:46.033 13 1.838 130.99 1:43.094
3 Dirk MULLER GER BMW 320i  22:47.194 13 2.999 130.88 1:44.201
4 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320i  22:49.045 13 4.850 130.70 1:44.283
5 Fredrik EKBLOM SWE BMW 320i  22:55.817 13 11.622 130.05 1:45.095
6 Peter KOX NED BMW 320i  22:56.104 13 11.909 130.03 1:45.136
7 Paolo RUBERTI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 22:58.500 13 14.305 129.80 1:44.308
8 Jordi GENE ESP BMW 320i  22:59.429 13 15.234 129.71 1:45.202
9 Eric CAYROLLE FRA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 23:03.555 13 19.360 129.33 1:45.058
10 Tommy RUSTAD NOR Nissan Primera 23:42.471 13 58.276 125.79 1:45.912
11 James HANSON GBR Volvo S60 21:27.351 12 1 LAP 128.23 1:45.629
12 Romana BERNARDONI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 19:39.848 11 2 LAPS 128.16 1:45.345
13 Tom FERRIER GBR Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 20:03.920 11 2 LAPS 125.60 1:45.410
14 Rickard RYDELL SWE Volvo S60 16:34.671 9 4 LAPS 124.16 1:45.529
Fastest Lap:  Fabrizio Giovanardi  1:43.094  83.53mph  134.44kph  lap 5

race 1
 
Nicola Larini leads Nordauto Alfa Romeo team mate Fabrizio GiovanardiPre race engine problems forced Rickard Rydell and Tommy Rustad to line up at the rear of the grid and at the lights Jorg Muller makes the best start, jumping into the lead ahead of Giovanardi, Larini and Dirk Muller, with Paolo Ruberti heading the best of the rest in fifth place. Meanwhile at the first corner Bernadoni's Alfa 156 and Tavano's Honda Civic collide, forcing the Honda driver to spin before rejoining.

Lap 2 saw local crowd favourite Luis Villamil in the Bigazzi Alfa 156 retire from eight place with gearbox failure while on lap four Fabrizio Giovanardi finally passed Jorg Muller at Varzi to take a lead he would not relinquish. Two laps later, team mate Nicola Larini squeezed out Jorg Muller for second as the pair braked into Nuvolari corner on what would be a race fastest lap so far by the Italian.

With the Volvo's struggling to make their way up the field top positions did not change from this point and the rest were led home by Paolo Ruberi's Alfa 156 in fifth place, five seconds ahead of Dutchman Tom Coronel scoring his first point of the season in sixth.

race 1 result:
POS DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH BEST
1 Fabrizio GIOVANARDI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 22:45.870 13   131.00 1:43.841
2 Nicola LARINI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 22:47.024 13 1.154 130.89 1:43.864
3 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320i  22:48.280 13 2.410 130.77 1:44.641
4 Dirk MULLER GER BMW 320i  22:51.047 13 5.177 130.51 1:44.454
5 Paolo RUBERTI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 22:55.278 13 9.408 130.11 1:45.028
6 Tom CORONEL NED BMW 320i 23:00.649 13 14.779 129.60 1:45.273
7 Peter KOX NED BMW 320i 23:01.423 13 15.553 129.53 1:45.185
8 Fredrik EKBLOM SWE BMW 320i  23:03.304 13 17.434 129.35 1:45.134
9 Jordi GENE ESP BMW 320i 23:04.109 13 18.239 129.28 1:45.371
10 Rickard RYDELL SWE Volvo S60 23:11.855 13 25.985 128.56 1:45.807
11 James HANSON GBR Volvo S60 23:13.525 13 27.655 128.40 1:45.812
12 Eric CAYROLLE FRA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 23:15.868 13 29.998 128.19 1:45.971
13 Tom FERRIER GBR Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 23:19.199 13 33.329 127.88 1:45.967
14 Fabrizio DE SIMONE ITA BMW 320i 23:20.758 13 34.888 127.74 1:45.928
15 Romana BERNARDONI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 21:43.791 12 1 LAP 126.61 1:45.987
16 Gianni MORBIDELLI ITA BMW 320i 23:12.737 11 2 LAPS 108.57 1:46.182
17 Salvatore TAVANO ITA Honda Civic Type-R 18:28.381 10 3 LAPS 123.92 1:46.854
Fastest Lap:  Fabrizio Giovanardi  1:43.841  82.93mph 133.47kph  lap 8

1st June 2002: qualifying
 
Fabrizio Giovanardi, Alfa Romeo 156 GTAThe team Nordauto dominance continued with Fabrizio Giovanardi edging out team mate Nicola Larini to lock out the front row and claim his fourth pole in four meetings, while the BMW pair of Jorg and Dirk Muller lined up on the second row 1/2 a second slower around the blisteringly hot Jarama track than the Alfa's.

Paolo Ruberti despite suffering gearbox problems was next up, best of the private entries ahead of the Volvo of Rickard Rydell, who would start from the back after applying for an engine change in his Volvo. Local hero Luis Villamil, after setting second fastest time in free practice changed his set up for qualifying, was unable to recapture his morning form, and saw himself bumped from fifth to seventh on the grid in the dying minutes as Ruberti and Rydell posted faster times.

grid:
POS NO DRIVER NAT CAR TIME LAPS GAP KPH
1 1 Fabrizio GIOVANARDI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:42.571 10   135.12
2 2 Nicola LARINI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:42.676 10 0.105 134.98
3 42 Jorg MULLER GER BMW 320i  1:43.290 11 0.719 134.18
4 43 Dirk MULLER GER BMW 320i  1:43.291 10 0.720 134.18
5 14 Paolo RUBERTI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:43.499 12 0.928 133.91
6 60 Rickard RYDELL SWE Volvo S60 1:43.675 9 1.104 133.68
7 15 Luis VILLAMIL ESP Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:43.900 14 1.329 133.39
8 61 James HANSON GBR Volvo S60 1:43.959 9 1.388 133.32
9 7 Tom CORONEL NED BMW 320i  1:44.057 15 1.486 133.19
10 5 Jordi GENE ESP BMW 320i  1:44.069 9 1.498 133.18
11 9 Peter KOX NED BMW 320i  1:44.285 12 1.714 132.90
12 16 Eric CAYROLLE FRA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:44.425 12 1.854 132.72
13 10 Fredrik EKBLOM SWE BMW 320i  1:44.425 13 1.854 132.72
14 6 Fabrizio DE SIMONE ITA BMW 320i  1:44.488 13 1.917 132.64
15 20 Tom FERRIER GBR Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:44.727 12 2.156 132.34
16 3 Romana BERNARDONI ITA Alfa Romeo 156 GTA 1:44.758 15 2.187 132.30
17 8 Gianni MORBIDELLI ITA BMW 320i  1:45.572 10 3.001 131.28
18 11 Tommy RUSTAD NOR Nissan Primera 1:45.845 8 3.274 130.94

championship positions ( after 8 rounds ):
drivers:
1st Fabrizio Giovanardi 72pts, 2nd Nicola Larini 52pts, 3rd Dirk Muller 32pts, 4th Jorg Muller 20pts 5th Rickard Rydell 14pts, 6th= Frederik Ekblom, Paolo Ruberti, Frederick Ekblom 5pts, 8th James Hanson 2pts, 9th= Luis Villamil, Peter Kox, Tom Coronel 1pt
teams:
1st Alfa Romeo 124pts, 2nd BMW  53pts, 3rd Volvo S60 Racing 19pts
 
Nicola Larini celebrates his race 2 victory
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