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Thursday, 15 May 2008

WTCC - ROUNDS 3 AND 4 - MAGNY-COURS - RACE

Written by Jeff Seabrook

Tuesday, 02 May 2006

2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)
Rounds 3 and 4 - 29th/30th April 2006 - Race

BMW secures two one-twos in the WTCC rounds at Magny-Cours.

Magny-Cours (France), 30th April 2006. Dirk Müller (GER) and Andy Priaulx (GBR) secured one win each in the third and fourth FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) rounds held at Magny-Cours, with Jörg Müller (GER) finishing runner-up in both races, thus completing the great BMW result. The first race at the "Circuit de Nevers" was won by BMW Team Germany driver Dirk Müller, followed by his team-mate and SEAT's Rickard Rydell (SWE), while the day's second sprint race was dominated by BMW Team UK driver Priaulx. The reigning World Touring Car Champion shared the podium with Jörg Müller and Jordi Gené (ESP).

In the first round, Priaulx came eighth, thus scoring a point and clinching pole for the second race. Thanks to these results, BMW took the lead in both the Drivers' and the Manufacturers' Championships. Priaulx, the new championship leader, leaves Magny-Cours with 21 points under his belt, Yvan Muller (FRA) holds second place and Jörg Müller is third. In the manufacturers' rankings, BMW has scored a total of 54 points and holds a six-point lead over SEAT. At the end of the day, the BMW national teams successfully continued their impressive run of victories at the 4.411 kilometre track with the BMW 320si WTCC, with the past eight races Magny-Cours having been won by BMW drivers.

At cool temperatures (13°C) and in front of more than 50,000 spectators, the BMW Team Germany drivers laid the basis for their success right at the start of round one. From his third position on the grid, Jörg Müller rocketed away between Rydell und Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) to take the lead, with Dirk Müller making an even bigger leap: The 30-year-old gained for positions and started to chase his team-mate from second place. The pairing was involved in a race-long battle, with Dirk Müller prevailing in lap ten: He passed his team-mate and defended the lead until crossing the line of the twelve-lap race as the winner. It was his first win in 2006 and the fourth WTCC victory of his career. Priaulx also drove a flawless race to finish eighth, while the BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers weren't that lucky. Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) was hampered by a problem of the clutch system specially adjusted to his needs, lost a lot of ground already in the opening stages and had to settle for 14th place. His team-mate, Marcel Costa (ESP), was involved in an early accident with Salvatore Tavano (ITA), resulting in his retirement.

In round two, Priaulx defended his lead from the start to the chequered flag. The win in France was already the reigning champion's second triumph in 2006 as he also had won the first round of the season opener at Monza. Behind the winner, the crowds could witness a turbulent race. During the start, Jörg Müller leaped from seventh to fourth place, while Dirk Müller spun when trying to avoid two colliding SEAT drivers and had to retire. Zanardi and Costa also were forced into early retirement on lap one. Following a great start, Zanardi was fifth but then he spun in the turmoil. A short time later, the Italian was battling it out with Costa when an opponent moved between the pairing and pushed both BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers off the track. BMW driver Stefano d'Aste (ITA) was the best privateer. Reactions:
Dirk Müller (BMW Team Germany):
"First of all, I have to praise my team. The crew worked on my car all night long as I wasn't completely happy with it. And their effort paid off. Following the warm-up, I knew that I would contest the races with a perfect car. My start into race one was very good and I succeeded in passing several opponents right away. Afterwards, I was racing close behind Jörg, and we were involved in a fair battle. When I saw the chance of overtaking him I made use of it. In the second round, Peter Terting and Rickard Rydell were battling it out with one another. Suddenly, Rickard went sideways in front of me, I had to lift, was massively hit from behind and spun. That was the end of my race."

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
"Quite obviously I am delighted with the win and the fact that I could gain the championship lead. Due to my 45 kilos handicap weight, I had expected to experience a kind of a difficult weekend. Had somebody told me that I was going to win a round and finish eighth in the other I'd loved to accept this offer. Now, I have to take even more weight aboard my car for my home race at Brands Hatch, but I'm looking forward to it nevertheless. It will be a tough battle."

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
"To win the World Championship it's not necessary to make it to the podium's highest step in every race. It's far more important to consistently score as many points as possible. I'm very satisfied with the weekend and had great confidence in my car. But then, Dirk succeeded in closing in on me in round one, and when I made a shifting mistake, he used the opportunity and passed me. But the battle was big fun, nevertheless."

Charly Lamm (Team Manager, BMW Team Germany):
"I'm relieved that this weekend turned out to be successful for us. It was truly vital for the team to leave Magny-Cours with such a sense of achievement under its belt. Jörg delivered in fine style, thus again proving that Magny-Cours suits him well. Dirk used his chance in race one and deservedly secured his maiden win of the 2006 season. Unfortunately, he experienced some bad luck in race two. Now we have to confirm this performance in the coming races."

Stats and results Magny-Cours:
Circuit / Date
Circuit de Nevers / 30th April 2006
Lap / Race distance
4.411 km / 52.93 km (12 laps)
Pole position 2006
Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT), 1:49.306 minutes
Winners 2006
Race 1: Dirk Müller (BMW Team Germany) Race 2: Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK)
Fastest lap 2006
Race 1: Dirk Müller, 1:50.650 minutes Race 2: Andy Priaulx, 1:50.859 minutes

Manufacturers' Championship:
1st BMW (54 points), 2nd SEAT (48), 3rd Alfa Romeo (28), 4th Chevrolet (26).

Race Calendar:
2nd April - Monza (ITA), 30th April - Magny-Cours (FRA), 21st May - Brands Hatch (GBR), 4th June - Oschersleben (GER), 2nd July - Curitiba (BRA), 30th July - Puebla (MEX), 3rd September - Brno (CZE), 24th September - Istanbul (TUR), 8th October - Valencia (ESP), 19th November - Macau (CHN).

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