2007 World Touring Car Championship

[OSFlanker]

2007 CalendarRound * Date * Country * Venue01 & 02 * 10/03 - 11/03 * BRAZIL Curitiba03 & 04 * 05/05 - 06/05 * NETHERLANDS Zandvoort 05 & 06 * 19/05 - 20/05 * SPAIN Valencia 07 & 08 * 02/06 - 03/06 * FRANCE Pau09 & 10 * 16/06 - 17/06 * CZECH REPUBLIC Brno 11 & 12 * 07/07 - 08/07 * PORTUGAL Porto 13 & 14 * 28/07 - 29/07 * SWEDEN Anderstorp15 & 16 * 25/08 - 26/08 * GERMANY Oschersleben 17 & 18 * 22/09 - 23/09 * UNITED KINGDOM Brands Hatch 19 & 20 * 06/10 - 07/10 * ITALY Monza 21 & 22 * 16/11 - 18/11 * MACAU Macau

 

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Race 01 - Curitiba, Brazil

From www.fiawtcc.com :

BMW CLAIM 1-2-3

Jörg Müller turned his pole into a win in the first race of the season.

After the rolling start Andy Priaulx promoted himself above Augusto Farfus and the top three remained the same.

The first corner proved catastrophic for Alfa Romeo as both drivers - James Thompson and Olivier Tielemans - were caught up in a collision also claiming Nicola Larini, Alain Menu and Luca Rangoni as casualties.

The only car involved that continued was Pierre-Yves Corthals', which went on to win the independent category. Due to this incident the safety car was deployed for three laps and the Stewards summoned Larini and Yvan Muller to investigate on the happening.

On the restart Müller got a clean break. Farfus came close to Priaulx at several moments but was never able to mount a challenge. Behind the leading pack Gabriele Tarquini crossed the line fourth for SEAT Sport followed by Rob Huff; the only Chevrolet left in the race. Tom Coronel was on the tail of the Briton but eventually crossed the line seventh.

The front row for the standing start of Race 2 will be compiled of Yvan Muller on pole and Alex Zanardi right beside.

Felix Porteiro was set to line up in front of the pack as he was lying eighth for the majority of the race. However an error at Curva da Vitória on lap 12 left him out of the race and in the gravel.

In a similar incident, Emmet O'Brien, who was leading the independent category left braking too late at Pinheirinho and rejoined 13th which equated to third independent behind Corthals and Stefano D'Aste.

1
Jörg Müller

00:25:38.208 138.36 km/h 2Andy PRIAULX (BMW 320si ) 00:25:38.629 + 0.421 3Augusto FARFUS (BMW 320si ) 00:25:39.442 + 1.234 4Gabriele TARQUINI (SEAT Leon ) 00:25:47.084 + 8.876 5Robert HUFF (Chevrolet Lacetti ) 00:25:47.909 + 9.701 6Tom CORONEL (SEAT Leon ) 00:25:48.532 + 10.324 7Alessandro ZANARDI (BMW 320si ) 00:25:49.216 + 11.008 8Yvan MULLER (SEAT Leon ) 00:25:51.488 + 13.280 9Jordi GENE (SEAT Leon ) 00:25:51.757 + 13.549 10 Pierre-Yves CORTHALS (SEAT Leon ) 00:26:01.959 + 23.751

 

[OSFlanker]

Race 2 - Curitiba, Brazil

From www.fiawtcc.com :

HOME VICTORY FOR FARFUS
Augusto Farfus was victorious in Race two, crossing the line as his home crowd roared.

Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller worked their way through the field from 7th and 8th on the grid to complete the second all-BMW podium of the day. All three drivers now lead the championship with 16 points a piece.

Due to the neutralisation of parc fermé Nicola Larini, Luca Rangoni, Alain Menu, James Thompson and Olivier Tielemans began from the back of the grid, their cars repaired after being involved in the pile up at the start of the first race.

Yvan Muller got a fantastic start from pole position and headed the field into the first corner. Moments later Robert Huff tried to make the turn on the inside of Zanardi but there was no room and his Chevrolet skidded across the track, narrowly avoiding several cars. Consequently Zanardi fell from 2nd to 5th; he eventually crossed the line 6th.

Farfus' path to glory began when he promoted himself from 6th to 2nd off the start. At turn one of lap three he overtook Muller for the lead which he didn't let go.

At this point Priaulx and Müller were 5th and 6th respectively but by lap eleven they had passed the SEAT cars of Muller, Tarquini and Coronel on their way to the podium.

Turn one was the location for all the attacks. The three SEAT drivers finished in the top ten; Muller 4th followed directly by Tarquini with Coronel claiming 8th place and the final point.

Luca Rangoni of Proteam Motorsport passed the chequered flag 7th claiming the independent win and also two points for the overall classification.

1 Augusto FARFUS (BMW 320si ) 00:20:20.148
2 Andy PRIAULX (BMW 320si ) 00:20:24.526 + 4.378
3 Jorg MULLER (BMW 320si ) 00:20:25.839 + 5.691
4 Yvan MULLER (SEAT Leon ) 00:20:27.111 + 6.963
5 Gabriele TARQUINI (SEAT Leon ) 00:20:27.627 + 7.479
6 Alessandro ZANARDI (BMW 320si ) 00:20:30.454 + 10.306
7 Luca RANGONI (BMW 320i ) 00:20:30.642 + 10.494
8 Tom CORONEL (SEAT Leon ) 00:20:32.221 + 12.073
9 Pierre-Yves CORTHALS (SEAT Leon ) 00:20:37.492 + 17.344
10 Nicola LARINI (Chevrolet Lacetti ) 00:20:38.573 + 18.425

 

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Positions after 2 races :

Drivers :

1 J. Müller 16
1 A. Farfus 16
3 A. Priaulx 16
4 G. Tarquini 9
5 Y. Muller 6
6 A. Zanardi 5
7 R. Huff 4
8 T. Coronel 4
9 L. Rangoni 2 (independent)


Manufacturer

1 BMW (GER) 36
2 SEAT (ESP) 21
3 Chevrolet (USA) 14
4 Alfa Romeo (ITA) 5

 

[Zoggee]

that British Bloke Andy Priaulx is quite a driver la...read an article of him in Total BMW.

 

[OSFlanker]

I just watched the highlights show. The BMW's are damn fast, pass the Seat as though they are standing still. I would bet the FIA will start imposing weight penalties on the BMW's soon. They can't have BMW 1-2-3 in every race!

 

[viewfinder]

The FIA needs to promote this WTCC better in US and Asia... there's no coverage in US (SpeedTV). ESPN showed the Nascar (at Vegas) going in boring cycles where Montoyo finished in 20-something after being 1st in previous race weekend.

 

[fabianyee]

wheel to wheel racing like this don't seem to appeal to the americans or the American TV stations..
Over in Malaysia, TV stations are just not into motorsports except for the F1 and MotoGP... Rally events also don't get good coverage here..

 

[OSFlanker]

Astro Channel 84 will be showing Round 3 & 4 from Zandvoort, Holland live. Show schedules :

Sunday 6 May 2007
17:45 Race 1 (live)
20:45 Race 1 (repeat)
21:45 Race 2 (live)

 

[sabelt]

speed channel LIVE can be viewed at this player below

download the player below, save the player and select to WHEELS, which is SPEED channel.
http://www.tvunetworks.com/


SPEED program listing
http://www.speedtv.com/schedule/

 

[OSFlanker]

Priaulx wins 3rd WTCC title

From the BBC :

Britain's Andy Priaulx sealed his third successive FIA World Touring Car title with victory in the final race of the year in Macau.

The man from Guernsey was only eighth in his BMW 320si in the first of the two nine-lap races.


But he produced an excellent drive in the second after starting from pole and his win also secured a hat-trick of manufacturers' titles for BMW.
"I never give up but I knew it needed something special," said Priaulx.


"I have now been in a championship-winning position in the final race of the season for five years in a row.


"We all know you need a bit of luck to win a championship, but also you have to be there to take the luck and today was my lucky day."


Yvan Muller, tied with Priaulx in the championship race before Macau, led the opening race until his car's fuel pump failed on the final lap.


It was won by Alain Menu ahead of Gabriele Tarquini with Priaulx claiming a single point after fighting his way through to eighth place.


Another of Priaulx's title rivals, Augusto Farfus Jr, crahes into the barrier on the final lap when lying second and the Brazilian limped home 26th.


Neither Muller nor Farfus was able to take part in the second race and Priaulx eased home ahead of Nicola Larini and James Thompson to take the title by an 11-point margin.


"We won't have long to celebrate as soon we will be starting on work for 2008," Priaulx added.


"Each year it seems to get harder to win the championship, but I am determined to be back here in Macau in 2008 with a chance of taking the title [again].


"I know how to win championships - you need the right package and consistency, so I shall be doing everything in my power to make sure we get both."

 

[redbaron]

Saw the race feel sorry for the guy in seat so close yet so far. Any way hooorrrryyy BMW makes 3 in a row.