BMW Racing News - BMWsport.net - BMW Racing News, Forums, Tech Articles and Race Photos

BMWsport.net - BMW Racing News, BMW Forums, BMW Tech Tips and Race Photos
Network Forums | Photo Galleries | BMW Heaven

BMWsport Home

BMW Racing News

2006 Archive | FIA WTCC

WTCC - ROUNDS 9 & 10 - CURITIBA - RACE RESULTS

News | Press

Community

Sections

Games | Downloads

Site

Popular Articles
BMW 3 Series BMW 5 Series BMW M Series The new BMW M6 Schumacher and Berger test the BMW M3 GTR THE NEW BMW e60 M5 - BMW UNVEILS THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL PERFORMANCE SEDAN BMW 7 Series BMW Motorsport – 24-Hour Race Nürburgring Season Review 2005 1979 BMW M1 THE NEW BMW M5

Recent forum posts

Formula BMW Americas/ International series: Laguna... (0) by BMW CSL Crazy - Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 01:44 pm
BMW Schnitzer 635 Quester (3) by Jeff Seabrook - Wednesday, October 10, 2007 - 07:03 pm
1990 E32 750iL (7) by DeanP - Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 10:52 pm
ANY HISTORY ON 530i 94 (3) by Jeff Seabrook - Monday, August 27, 2007 - 08:05 am
Car Phone Handset (2) by DeanP - Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 08:03 pm

Friday, 16 May 2008

WTCC - ROUNDS 9 & 10 - CURITIBA - RACE RESULTS

Written by Jeff Seabrook

Monday, 03 July 2006

2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)
Rounds 9 and 10 - 01st/02nd July 2006 - Race
Priaulx celebrates his fourth win of the season - Zanardi on the podium.

Curitiba (Brazil), 02nd July 2006. At the FIA World Touring Car Championship's (WTCC) first appearance in South America, Andy Priaulx (GBR) of BMW Team UK secured his fourth win of the season. The reigning World Champion won the second race at the 'Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba'. Behind Priaulx and Alfa Romeo driver Gianni Morbidelli (ITA) it was BMW Team Italy-Spain's Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) who achieved his first podium finish this year. The 39-year-old started race one from last on the grid following a mistake in qualifying. However, he delivered an impressive revival and was rewarded with third place. Furthermore, Jörg Müller (GER) of BMW Team Germany added two points to his tally in Curitiba. He took seventh place in race two. Victory in the first round of the day was claimed by Jordi Gené (ESP) ahead of Peter Terting (GER) and Augusto Farfus (BRA).

The Brazilian motorsport enthusiasts witnessed a turbulent start to the first race. As early as lap one, the safety car had to come out, after Maurizio Ceresoli (ITA) and local hero Lucas Molo (BRA) both crashed. At this time, Jörg Müller had fought his way up to ninth, and BMW Team Italy-Spain driver Duncan Huisman (NLD) was running in tenth. The best start, however, was executed by Zanardi who leap-frogged from 26th to 15th. Dirk Müller (GER) suffered a dose of bad luck at the very beginning of the race. Running 14th, the BMW Team Germany driver's car was hit in the back and pushed into the gravel in turn six. Consequently he was relegated to the back of the field and finished 20th.

Priaulx defended his seventh position at the start, but had to let Morbidelli pass on lap four, following the safety car phase. He defended eighth place - and thus pole position for race two - until the end of the race. Jörg Müller delivered a flawless performance and finished ninth. Huisman was on his way to securing tenth, when he suffered a technical problem in his rear axle and was forced to reduce his speed, thus losing one position. Zanardi benefited by this and crossed the line in tenth place, following some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres.

The second round turned out to be a thriller. The safety car had to neutralize the field twice. Due to some more accidents and a lot of debris on the track, race control decided to red-flag the race shortly before the end. Priaulx was able to keep out of the tough-fought duels in midfield and controlled the speed from the front. He succeeded in building up a gap after each safety car phase. Further back down the field, Zanardi was involved in a lot of action. From tenth place on the grid he gained one position and eventually took third place from James Thompson (GBR) on lap nine. Towards the end of the race, he was in a position to launch an attack on second-placed Morbidelli, but was stopped by the red flag. For the first time in his WTCC career, Zanardi set the fastest lap of the race, posting a time of 1:26.069. Jörg Müller improved from ninth to seventh over the course of the race. His team-mate Dirk Müller had no chance to enter the fight for points after starting 20th and had to make do with 15th place. Huisman also failed to make it into the top eight in his WTCC comeback. After he had collided with Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) on lap five, he fell back and finally finished 16th.

Reactions:
Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
"It's brilliant to have another win. But for me, the points are more important. Coming from Brazil with 11 points despite 65 kilos of handicap weight was not what I had expected. Therefore I'm really, really pleased. I made a good start in race two and opened up a gap, but then the safety-car came out. After a good re-start, I built another gap - and again the safety car came out. It was an eventful race, but I tried to drive cleverly and to commit no mistakes. However, it won't be easy in Mexico now, as I will carry high ballast again."

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
"Yesterday was a bad day for me. BMW Team Italy-Spain gave me a great car, and I felt that a top-five grid position could have been possible. But then I threw it away before the end of my first lap. Again, I want to apologize to my team for that. What happened in the races was unbelievable. I drove aggressively, but my car had not a single scratch. To finish tenth and then third is just great. The races were very interesting for me, to say the least."

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal BMW Team UK):
"Already on Friday we realised that we would have a competitive car here. On the other hand, it also was obvious that some of our rivals would also be very strong. Therefore, it was far from easy to secure another win. In race one we saw that it's almost impossible to overtake without a risk with a lot of ballast in the car. That's why we were very happy with eighth place. The second race was very exciting. Andy delivered a strong performance. The eleven points are indeed very welcome."

Charly Lamm (Team Manager BMW Team Germany):
"Congratulations to Andy Priaulx and Alessandro Zanardi, who - together with Jörg - made scored points for BMW today. Our weekend was not really easy. That counts especially for Dirk, who had to start in midfield following a difficult qualifying session and was involved in several incidents. Jörg was unlucky not making it into eighth in race one, thus securing pole for the second round. So we have to be happy with two points. We will work hard, to return to the front end of the grid in Mexico."

Drivers' Championship: 1st Priaulx (44 points), 2nd Thompson (41), 3rd Tarquini (40), 4th Rydell (34), 5th Muller (33), 6th Dirk Müller (32), 7th Terting (32), 8th Jörg Müller (30).
Manufacturers' Championship: 1st SEAT (127 points), 2nd BMW (126), 3rd Alfa Romeo (75), 4th Chevrolet (62).

Comments

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.