2009 WTCC : Double wins for BMW

Andy Priaulx - Race1 Winner

OKAYAMA, Japan : November 2, 2009 - In adverse weather conditions – with heavy rain soaking the racetrack – BMW drivers performed a miracle and scored two 1-2 finishes at Okayama in the penultimate event of the season.

Andy Priaulx - Race1 Winner

RACE 1 - Priaulx sings in the rain

Andy Priaulx claimed victory on a soaking Okayama track from fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller and Chevrolet’s Robert Huff.

Heavy rain before the race meant the field started behind the safety car. On lap three the safety car came into the pits and Tarquini lead the field. However after a few corners the Italian went wide. This left Priaulx to lead the rest of the way, despite being under severe pressure from Müller, especially on the final couple of laps. Tarquini’s mistake was not catastrophic as he managed to claw back positions to take fifth place behind team-mate and title rival Yvan Muller. Monteiro crossed the line seventh.

In exactly the same corner as Tarquini, Farfus also went off, losing his position. However, after a fight and a clash with Menu, he claimed a crucial eighth place to remain in contention for the champion’s crown.

Tom Coronel drove a solid race to come home the Independent victor with Porteiro second and Japanese driver Seiji Ara third.

Man of the race
In past seasons wins have come a lot easier to Andy Priaulx than they have this year. Despite this he and his team had battled hard and today they achieved their second win of the season. Müller had the pace over Priaulx at the end of the race and challenged hard but the former champion kept his car steady and his concentration strong.

Key moment
In the battle for eighth place between Menu and Farfus it was do-or-die for the Brazilian to stand a chance to remain in the title fight. On the penultimate lap the pair entered a corner side by side with Farfus on the inside touching Menu’s Chevrolet. Menu went wide and Farfus went through to claim a point and the Race 2 pole. But their collision is currently under investigation

Withdrawals
S. Hernández: race incident; F. Engstler: broken bolt in rear wheel.

Augusto Farfus - Race 2 Winner

RACE 2 – Farfus keeps title fight open

BMW scored another 1-2 in Race 2, this time Farfus claiming the win and Priaulx second. Yvan Muller came home third and Tarquini seventh after his team-mates Gené and Rydell dropped down on the last lap. Tarquini leads the championship by 2 points from Muller and 13 points from Farfus. SEAT lead BMW in the manufacturer fight by three points.

At the first corner numerous drivers went wide while Farfus, Priaulx, Muller and Menu kept control to finish in that order. Menu’s Chevrolet team-mates Larini and Huff claimed fifth and sixth with Rydell claiming the final point position.
Thompson and van Lagen of LADA were among the top ten and battling well until lap 9 and 10 when they both pitted. D’Aste took the Independents’ win followed by Porteiro and Coronel.

Man of the race
Nicola Larini stormed from the very back to finish fifth. Although being given a helping hand as many competitors went off on the first corner, the Chevrolet driver fought his way from tenth from lap two onwards - all the more impressive considering the challenging conditions.

Key moment
The first corner on the first lap saw a few potential race winners taken out of the equation. The most notable of these was Tarquini who went wide trying to avoid Jörg Müller who hit Monteiro and therefore received a drive-through penalty. The events at this corner meant Farfus got an unchallenged win, Muller closed the points gap from Tarquini and BMW stepped closer to SEAT in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

Withdrawals
K. Ladygin: DNS (engine); T. Monteiro: race incident; N. Taniguchi: race incident; K. Poulsen: race incident; H. H race incident; J. Thompson: anti-mist system failure; J. van Lagen: engine problem.

Driver's Championship
P.	Driver - Nationality	R1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	Total
1	Gabriele TARQUINI (ITA)	5	10	3	1	8	4	0	3	6	6	6	4	10	0	5	6	8	6	10	8	4	2	115
2	Yvan MULLER (FRA)	10	5	5	10	5	8	0	2	10	2	1	8	6	8	0	2	0	2	8	10	5	6	113
3	Augusto FARFUS (BRA)	4	3	8	5	0	3	8	8	5	10	0	0	1	10	1	10	4	10	0	1	1	10	102
4	Andy PRIAULX (GBR)	2	0	6	8	0	0	5	5	4	5	0	1	0	2	6	4	10	8	0	0	10	8	84
5	Robert HUFF (GBR)	0	0	0	0	10	6	10	6	0	0	0	0	8	3	8	3	0	0	6	0	6	3	69
6	J๖rg MLLER (GER)	0	4	4	0	1	5	6	0	3	8	8	2	0	1	3	8	0	5	0	0	8	0	66
7	Rickard RYDELL (SWE)	6	8	10	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	3	2	6	4	5	6	0	0	2	0	1	64
8	Jordi GENษ (ESP)	8	6	2	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	4	3	0	39
9	Alain MENU (SUI)	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	1	6	0	5	36
10	Sergio HERNมNDEZ (ESP)	3	0	0	4	0	0	4	0	1	3	4	10	0	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	0	0	36
11	Tiago MONTEIRO (POR)	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	8	1	3	6	5	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	36
12	Alessandro ZANARDI (ITA)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	4	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5	0	0	31
13	Nicola LARINI (ITA)	0	0	1	0	3	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	25
14	Tom CORONEL (NED)	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1	4	0	0	0	15
15	F้lix PORTEIRO (ESP)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
16	Franz ENGSTLER (GER)	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	7
17	James THOMPSON (GBR)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0	0	-	-	3	3	0	0	6
18	Stefano D'ASTE	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3
19	Eric CAYROLLE (FRA)	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1

Manufacturer's Championship
Pos.	Brand	R1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	Point
1	SEAT	18	18	15	16	14	12	7	7	18	11	11	14	16	14	9	11	14	10	18	18	9	9	289
2	BMW	11	11	14	13	7	8	14	13	11	18	18	15	7	14	9	18	15	18	8	8	18	18	286
3	CHEVROLET	2	7	4	7	15	16	15	16	7	7	0	7	13	6	18	7	4	8	8	8	9	9	193
4	LADA	7	3	5	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	7	3	3	5	3	3	6	3	5	5	3	0	81

Images : 2009 WTCC-Okayama, Japan

[Source : 2009 WTCC - Official]