It was a successful start to the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for BMW. During Saturday's qualifying for the first race of the series in Monza, Dirk Müller (GER) of BMW Team Deutschland managed to secure pole position. Antonio Garcia (ESP), driving for BMW Team Italy-Spain, claimed the second-best time. The reigning European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx (GBR) of BMW Team UK came fifth, while Garcia's team-mate Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) will be contesting Sunday's race from eleventh place on the grid.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, who was determined to attend the curtain-raiser of the FIA WTCC, was impressed by the performance of the BMW drivers: "It was a strong showing by Dirk and Antonio," he said. "In all the teams, we could see how the drivers were taking each other into their slipstream, and that worked pretty well for us. This is a good starting position for the race. Now we will have to wait and see what the track conditions are like on Sunday and how the cars perform in racing trim."

BMW drivers very nearly scooped up the first three grid places, but the second-fastest lap time by Jörg Müller (GER) was disallowed due to a mistake by the 35-year-old during weighing. The BMW Team Deutschland driver was relegated to 18th place.

Heavy showers in the morning had made for challenging conditions at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. But the 5.793-kilometre circuit was dry again in time for the first qualifying of the season. Dirk Müller claimed his fastest lap a good five minutes before the end of the session. "I'm very happy," said the 2004 FIA ETCC runner-up. "It was my first qualifying in a world championship and I managed to take pole straightaway. The car sat on the track perfectly. We were also able to make optimum use of the slipstream. This is a great start to the season."

Garcia was similarly pleased with his first qualifying session of the year: "Of course we constantly kept an eye on the sky, but fortunately it stayed dry. There was a lot of traffic out on the track, which didn't make things easier. I feel sorry for Alessandro. He was just doing his fast lap when the session ended early." After an accident shortly before the end, the race stewards called off the qualifying session. On Sunday at 14.10 hrs (GMT), the battle begins for the first world championship points in touring car racing since 1987.

Results

BMW Team UK - RBM
No. 1 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) 5th - 1:59.969 minutes

BMW Team Italy-Spain - ROAL Motorsport
No. 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) 11th - 2:00.654 minutes
No. 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) 2nd - 1:59.411 minutes

BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport
No. 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) 18th - 2:02.181 minutes
No. 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) 1st - 1:59.009 minutes

BMW private teams
Crawford Racing - No. 28 - Carl Rosenblad (SWE) 14th - 2:01.872 minutes
Proteam Motorsport - No. 30 - Stefano d'Aste (ITA) 16th - 2:02.033 minutes
- No. 31 - Giuseppe Ciro (ITA) 29th - 2:03.442 minutes
Wiechers-Sport - No. 32 - Marc Hennerici (GER) 12th - 2:00.851 minutes
Zerocinque Motorsp.- No. 54 - Stefano Valli (RSM) 32nd - 2:04.291 minutes
No. 53 - Gianluca De Lorenzi 31st - 2:03.620 minutes

Results: 1st Dirk Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 1:59.009 minutes, 2nd Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) 1:59.411, 3rd Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 1:59.709, 4th Augusto Farfus Jr. (BRA/Alfa Romeo) 1:59.729, 5th Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) 1:59.969, 6th Jordi Gene (ESP/SEAT) 2:00.316

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