2009 WTCC : First win for BMW

Race 2 Winner - Augusto Farfus - BMW Team Germany - BMW 320si

VALENCIA, Spain : May 31, 2009 - Augusto Farfus scored BMW’s first win of the season after starting from fifth on the grid.

Race 1 Podium

Race 1 - Third win for Yvan Muller

SEAT Sport celebrated a 1-2-3 at their home track. Yvan Muller won the race (his third victory of the season) from second on the grid after taking the lead off the start. Tiago Monteiro finished second with Gabriele Tarquini third.
Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx from BMW had a strong race edging through the pack to come home fourth and fifth respectively. Fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller passed the chequered flag sixth after dropping two places on the last corner – he will line up third for Race 2. Spaniard Sergio Hernández battled hard against Stefano D’Aste to keep eighth place and pole for the second race. Tom Coronel continued his strong form this weekend to claim the Independent win and seventh place overall.

Man of the race
Augusto Farfus was under pressure from the word go in Race 1. At the start he was being pushed wide by Jordi Gené but held his ground. At turn 1 another challenge faced him as Rydell, Menu and Gené were involved in scuffle. Although this cost the Brazilian to drop down several places, he battled on and made his way up to fourth to claim five precious championship points.

Key moment
The first corner on lap one saw an incident that spelt the end of podium hopes for several contenders and allowed others to rise through the ranks. Rickard Rydell hit Alain Menu as they took the outside line. The impact sent Menu into Gené who went off the track and did not rejoin. Those drivers who opted for the inside of turn one including Müller and Coronel, avoided the clash and continued with the advantage.

Withdrawals
J. Gené: race incident; K. Poulsen: race incident; K. Ladygin: engine overheating

Race 2 Podium

Race 2 – Farfus gives first win to BMW

Augusto Farfus scored BMW’s first win of the season after starting from fifth on the grid. The Brazilian’s BMW Team Germany companion Jörg Müller made it a BMW 1-2 while Gabriele Tarquini denied the German marque a 1-2-3 with Andy Priaulx narrowly missing out on a podium spot.
Jörg Müller led the race until lap three when Farfus took the reins. The duo made a break from the rest leaving Priaulx and Tarquini to undertake some superb racing for third. Behind them BMW Italy-Spain’s men Alessandro Zanardi and Sergio Hernández took fifth and sixth followed by Race 1 winner Yvan Muller and Tiago Monteiro. Despite starting from second, Coronel couldn’t match the BMW’s start and was eventually beaten by Stefano D’Aste for the Independent win.

Man of the race
Stefano D’Aste took his first victory in the Independents’ category. During Race 1 the Italian promoted himself from 16th to ninth. This gave him the opportunity to shine in Race 2 and he did not disappoint. After the start D’Aste was behind Coronel, at which point he used his intelligence to study the Dutchman’s driving for a couple of laps and overtake where he knew he had the best chance.

Key moment
The battle between Tarquini and Priaulx was touring car racing at its best. As the laps unfolded Priaulx’s determination grew and he was pressurising Tarquini all the way. On lap eight it looked as though the Briton had done enough to stand on the podium as he edged his way past the SEAT. However, a few seconds later Tarquini used his straight-line speed to claim back the place at the end of the straight.

Withdrawals
K. Ladygin: oil pressure.

Driver's Championship
Pos.	Driver - Nationality	R1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	Yvan MULLER (FRA)	10	5	5	10	5	8	0	2	10	2	57
2	Augusto FARFUS (BRA)	4	3	8	5	0	3	8	8	5	10	54
3	Gabriele TARQUINI (ITA)	5	10	3	1	8	4	0	3	6	6	46
4	Andy PRIAULX (GBR)	2	0	6	8	0	0	5	5	4	5	35
5	Robert HUFF (GBR)	0	0	0	0	10	6	10	6	0	0	32
6	J๖rg MLLER (GER)	0	4	4	0	1	5	6	0	3	8	31
7	Rickard RYDELL (SWE)	6	8	10	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	30
8	Jordi GENษ (ESP)	8	6	2	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	24
9	Sergio HERNมNDEZ (ESP)	3	0	0	4	0	0	4	0	1	3	15
10	Nicola LARINI (ITA)	0	0	1	0	3	10	0	0	0	0	14
11	Alain MENU (SUI)	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10	0	0	14
12	Tiago MONTEIRO (POR)	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	8	1	13
13	Alessandro ZANARDI (ITA)	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	4	11
14	Franz ENGSTLER (GER)	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	0	0	5
15	Tom CORONEL (NED)	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	5
16	F้lix PORTEIRO (ESP)	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
17	Eric CAYROLLE (FRA)	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	-	-	1

Manufacturer's Champion
Pos.	Brand	Point
1	SEAT	136
2	BMW	120
3	CHEVROLET	96
4	LADA	35

Hi-light images : 2009 - WTCC - Round 9-10 Valencia, Spain

[Source : WTCC Official, SEAT, BMW]