Motorsports News
After Istanbul Races, Drivers Swap Points Lead, but BMW Stays All on Top in FIA World Touring Car Championship
By BMW Group Press
Sep 21, 2005, 09:45 PST

Priaulx new championship leader - Zanardi makes it onto the podium again.

Istanbul (Turkey), 18th September 2005. Andy Priaulx (GBR) of BMW Team UK has taken the lead in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) after rounds 15 and 16 of the series in Istanbul. In the first race of the day, the 31-year-old finished third behind race winner Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA) and the Alfa Romeo driver's team-mate, James Thompson.

The second race at the Istanbul Speed Park saw another of the BMW national teams' drivers taking third place: Three weeks after his spectacular win at Oschersleben, Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) of BMW Team Italy-Spain secured his second podium finish in the WTCC. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA) and Augusto Farfus Jr. (BRA). finished first and second respectively for Alfa.

However, BMW defended its lead in all championship classifications. For the first time this year, the leader of the drivers' standings is not Dirk Müller (GER) of BMW Team Germany, who took a ninth and a fifth place in Turkey. It's now Priaulx, who is leading the championship with 74 points, just one point ahead of his brand-mate. Giovanardi follows in third position, having 70 points to his tally. With his third place, and a six-place finish in race one, Zanardi made it into the top ten of the championship. One week ago, the 38-year-old won the Italian Superturismo Championship.

Jörg Müller (GER) of BMW Team Germany and Zanardi's team-mate, Antonio Garcia (ESP), was unlucky. Both drivers were involved in race incidents. Finishing fourth in race one Garcia could at least console himself with five championship points. In the Independents' Trophy, both races were won by BMW drivers. Carl Rosenblad (SWE) took victory in the first round, while overall leader Marc Hennerici (GER) won race two.


Reactions:

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK): "Despite being the new championship leader, I'm not satisfied with today's result. Throughout weekend I wasn't too happy with the balance of my car. Therefore, I asked the team to make some significant changes during the break. Unfortunately, this didn't have the desired effect, we simply went the wrong way. I always said that the championship was likely to be decided in Macau. I like the track and also the one at Valencia. Let's see, what the final races will bring. It will be very exciting."

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain): "Obviously I'm very happy and want to say thank you to my team once again. This is a great result for us. I was very lucky today, Antonio however, had some bad luck, he could have fought for the victory, I'm sure. We were able to go at the pace we wanted. Now we have to work on our qualifying performance. In the races we are most often more competitive than in qualifying. On Saturday, the team changed my car's driveshaft in just 15 minutes. I hope that I have paid them back for their efforts."


Race 1

Weather: Sunny - 27 degrees Celsius

Start: Priaulx manages to get past SEAT's Peter Terting (GER) and Stéphane Ortelli (MON) after a good start. He is now running in fifth place. Garcia also makes an excellent start from 13th position and leapfrogs several rivals to 8th place. Dirk Müller is 9th, Zanardi 13th. At the tail of the field, Jörg Müller makes his way up from 23rd to 16th position.

Lap 1: Nicola Larini (ITA/Chevrolet) goes off, forcing Jörg Müller into the gravel. The result of this move is a broken rear suspension on the BMW driver's car. He pits and retires from the race. Dirk Müller is involved in an accident also. Ortelli goes wide and crashes with Terting, who collides with Dirk Müller, when returning to the track. The left rear wheel rim of the WTCC leader's BMW breaks, making for difficult handling for the rest of the race. Meanwhile, Zanardi has improved to 10th position.

Lap 2: Zanardi overtakes Dirk Müller and is now running in ninth position. Garcia passes Jordi Gene (ESP/SEAT) for 7th place.

Lap 4: Garcia overtakes SEAT's Rickard Rydell.

Lap 6: Garcia launches a successful attack on Priaulx, thus taking 5th place off his brand-mate.

Lap 7: Zanardi gets closer to Gene, but goes off. He rejoins in 9th place.

Lap 10: The final lap of the race provides lots of action. One after the other, Tarquini, Farfus and Gene lose ground due to punctures.

Finish: Priaulx, who had previously passed Garcia, moves up into 3rd position. Garcia takes 4th place, Zanardi takes the flag in 6th. Dirk Müller finishes 9th, thus failing to secure pole position for race two.


Race 2

Weather: Sunny - 26 degrees Celsius

Start: After the start there are no major changes in position for the drivers of the BMW national teams. Zanardi defends 3rd place, Garcia passes Rydell and runs directly behind his team-mate. Priaulx is 6th, while Dirk Müller emerges from turn 1 in 10th. Jörg Müller starts his catch-up from the tail of the grid.

Lap 1: Garcia loses 4th place to Rydell, Priaulx falls back into 8th position.

Lap 2: Dirk Müller overtakes Alain Menu (SWI/Chevrolet).

Lap 3: Turn 13 sees a spectacular incident: Giovanardi tries to pass Zanardi on the inside, Garcia tries the same on the outside. Giovanardi hits the rear of Garcia's car, thus sending the young Spaniard into early retirement. Priaulx, Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller benefit from the bad luck of their fellow BMW driver.

Lap 4: Dirk Müller passes Priaulx, and a little later also manages to overtake Rydell, now running in 7th place. Jörg Müller is 16th.

Lap 6: Dirk Müller also passes Giovanardi, along with Priaulx his second rival in the title fight.

Lap 7: Menu takes 8th position from Priaulx.

Finish: Zanardi defends his 3rd position until the end. Dirk Müller takes the chequered flag in 5th, Priaulx finishes 9th. Jörg Müllers's catch-up ends in 12th place.


Results

BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport
No. 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) Grid: 23rd - Races: DNF and
No. 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) Grid: 10th - Races: 9th and 6th

BMW Team UK - RBM
No. 1 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) Grid: 7th - Races: 3rd and 2nd

BMW Team Italy-Spain - ROAL Motorsport
No. 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) Grid: 15th - Races: 6th and 1st
No. 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) Grid: 13th - Races: 4th and 9th


BMW private teams

Crawford Racing
- No. 28 - Carl Rosenblad (SWE) Races: 11th and 17th

Proteam Motorsport
- No. 30 - Stefano d'Aste (ITA) Races: 14th and 19th
- No. 31 - Giuseppe Ciro (ITA) Races: 12th and 16th

Wiechers-Sport
- No. 32 - Marc Hennerici (GER) Races: 13th and 21st


Results Race 1:
1st Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 21:12.294 minutes, 2nd James Thompson (GBR, Alfa Romeo) +2.794 seconds, 3rd Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) +6.134, 4th Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) +6.893, 5th Rickard Rydell (SWE/SEAT) +8.018, 6th Alessandro Zanardi (ITA/BMW 320i) +9.513, 7th Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) +14.495, 8th Augusto Farfus jr. (BRA/Alfa Romeo) +19.711, 9th Dirk Müller (GER, BMW 320i) +20.198 -DNF: Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i),


Results Race 2:
1st Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 21:07.765 minutes, 2nd Augusto Farfus jr. (BRA/Alfa Romeo) +0.263 seconds, 3rd Alessandro Zanardi (ITA/BMW 320i) +1.103, 4th James Thompson (GBR, Alfa Romeo) +4.538, 5th Dirk Müller (GER/BMW 320i) +5.423, 6th Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) +9.364, 7th Rickard Rydell (SWE/SEAT) +11.408, 8th Alain Menu (SWI/Chevrolet) +11.537, 9th Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) +13.907, …12th Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i) +15.846 - DNF: Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i)


Drivers' standings after 16 out of 20 races:
1st Andy Priaulx 74 points, 2nd Dirk Müller 73, 3rd Fabrizio Giovanardi 70, 4th Gabriele Tarquini 55, 5th James Thompson 51, 6th Rickard Rydell 49, 7th Antonio Garcia 48, 8th Augusto Farfus jr. 47, 9th Jörg Müller 45, 10th Alessandro Zanardi 26

Manufacturers' standings after 16 out of 20 races:
1st BMW 215 points, 2nd Alfa Romeo 200, 3rd SEAT 145, 4th Chevrolet 52, 5th Ford 8

Next race: Valencia (Spain), 2nd October 2005

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