Race Report from FIA ETCC races at Valencia
2004 European Touring Car Championship
Rounds 3&4– 17/18 April, Valencia (Spain)
Valencia proves difficult for the BMW Teams
Despite gaining valuable championship points the Spanish rounds of the FIA ETCC were not kind to the BMW national drivers as there was not a BMW driver on either podium. The best the BMW drivers could manage was fourth in both races – Andy Priaulx in race one and Dirk Müller race two. It was a clean sweep for Alfa Romeo with the top three in race one being Gabriele Tarquini, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Augusto Farfus Jr and in race two the first two switched round so the result was Giovanardi, Tarquini and Farfus.
The Alfa Romeo drivers now lead the points standings with Tarquini on 28, and Giovanardi on 26. Jörg is the leading BMW driver in third with 22 points, which means he will have a ten kilo ballast weight for Magny Cours. Alfa Romeo now lead the Manufacturers’ table on 54 points with BMW second on 47 and SEAT third on 8.
After the weekend it was the drivers from BMW Team Deutschland who gained the most points despite Jörg Müller and Dirk Müller carrying 40 and 35 kilos of ballast respectively. Team Manager, Charly Lamm’s quote after the races was: “I think we achieved the best possible results today in the circumstances. Alfa was very competitive here and it helped them to be without any ballast. We will now go testing in preparation for the next round in Magny Cours where we hope to be stronger.”
RACE 1
Weather: Very Windy with patchy clouds and sunshine - 16ºC
While Race one was not the most exciting in the history of the FIA ETCC, it was one in which the BMW drivers drove carefully and preserved their cars for race two, in which most felt they could possibly gain better results. The field was led away from the grid by the Alfa Romeo trio of Augusto Farfus Jr, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gabriele Tarquini. Poleman Farfus kept his advantage until lap three and then the order changed with both his team-mates overtaking him. From then on Tarquini led from Giovanardi and the top three stayed the same until the end of the race. Andy Priaulx started fourth, saving his new tyres for race two. In fact it was a BMW 320i train behind the Alfas down to seventh. The Alfa of Salvatore Tavano spoilt the BMW result by getting between the BMW Team Italy-Spain cars so Antonio Garcia finished seventh and Alex Zanardi ninth. Tom Coronel came second in the Independents Trophy battle in his Carly Motors BMW 320i, but enjoyed a good battle with the newcomer to the series, former Grand Prix driver, Jan Magnussen in the Peugeot 307. Tom overtook the Dane on lap seven and stayed in front to the finish. For the SEAT team it was a disastrous start to their home race weekend as all three cars retired – Jordi Gene and Rickard Rydell in an accident just after the start, when the Swede was pushed into the Spaniard, and Frank Diefenbacher on lap three when his engine failed.
RACE 2
Weather: Very Windy with patchy clouds and sunshine Warm - 16ºc
Race two started much better than race one for BMW as at the end of the first lap it was Antonio Garcia who was leading the pack with Dirk Müller second and Jörg Müller third. The first few laps were also much more exciting with close racing between the leading BMW drivers. Unfortunately it was not long before the Alfa drivers starting climbing their way back through the field and by the end of lap four the winner, Fabrizio Giovanardi, was in front. A spin on this lap did not help Antonio and as the cars came across the start/finish line he was back in tenth. He gained a couple of the lost places but then another spin on lap ten dropped him down even further, and he eventually finished 15th. Andy Priaulx spent most of the race behind Dirk’s 320i and was hoping for fifth, but then on the last lap he lost out to Jörg and had to settle for sixth. Tom Coronel was again in some close racing, but this time it was with Alex Zanardi. He got by him on lap ten but could do nothing about fellow Independents Trophy competitor, Luca Rangoni, so had to settle for third in the class, although again he was the leading privateer BMW.
Results and Positions
BMW Team Deutschland – Schnitzer Motorsport
No 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) Qual12th – Race 1 - 6th – Race 2 – 5th – 40 kilos ballast
No 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) Qual 7th – Race 1 – 5th – Race 2 – 4th – 35 kilos ballast
BMW Team Great Britain – RBM
No 11 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) Qual 4th – Race 1 – 4th – Race 2 – 6th - 25 kilos ballast
BMW Team Italy-Spain – Ravaglia Motorsport
No 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) Qual 14th – Race 1 – 9th – Race 2 – 10th
No 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) Qual 8th – Race 1 - 7th – Race 2 – 15th
BMW Privateer Teams
Carly Motors - No 20 – Tom Coronel (NLD) Qual 15th – Race 1 – 10th – Race 2 – 9th
Carly Motors – No 21 – Paulien Zwart (NLD) Qual 24th – Race 1 -18 th – Race 2 – 17th
Proteam Motorsport – No 25 – Stefano D’Aste (ITA) Qual 20th – Race 1 – 14 th – Race 2 – 12 th
Crawford Racing – No 27 – Carl Rosenblad (SWE) Qual 23rd – Race 1 – 17 th – Race 2 – 19th
Race 1 – 13 laps
1. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 28.346s
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 29.828s
3. Augusto Farfus Jr (BRA/Alfa Romeo 22m 32.205s
4. Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) 22m 34.155s
5. Dirk Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 22m 36.224s
6. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 22m 41.817s
7. Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) 22m 42.968s
8. Salvatore Tavano (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 51.429s
Race 2 – 13 laps
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 31.263s
2. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 31.442s
3. Augusto Farfus Jr (BRA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 36.643s
4. Dirk Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 22m36.970s
5. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 22m 39.282s
6. Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) 22m 39.591s
7. Salvatore Tavano (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 50.373s
8. Luca Rangoni (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22m 52.551s
Championship Positions
Drivers
1. Tarquini 28
2. Giovanardi 26
3. Müller J 22
4. Müller D 21
5. Priaulx 20
6. Farfus 12
7. Coronel 8
8. Diefenbacher 6
9. Garcia 5
10. Tavano 3
11. Gené 2
12. Zanardi 1
12. D’Aste 1
12. Rangoni 1
Manufacturers
1. Alfa Romeo 54
2. BMW 47
3. SEAT 8
Michelin Independents Trophy
1. Coronel 34
2. D’Aste 25
3. Balzan 21
4. Tavano 20
5. Harrison 10
6. Rangoni 9
7. Ruokonen 9
8. Klenke 8
9. Bartyan 7
10. Zwart 7
11. Asch 3
12. Grunert 2
13. Rosenblad 1