Photo: WTCC media

Race 2: Farfus wins ahead of Priaulx

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Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx gave BMW a dominant 1-2 finish in their home race.

Jordi Gené claimed the third podium position adding another excellent result to the brand new SEAT León TDI’s tally, just ahead of James Thompson who was fighting again for the top places.

With former championship leader Jörg Müller forced to retire after being involved in a first corner collision, Farfus inherited the lead, only one point ahead of Priaulx.

As usual the BMW cars sprinted at the start: Farfus took the lead chased by Priaulx, while Jörg Müller tried to squeeze between the SEATs of pole man Roberto Colciago and Jordi Gené.

The three clashed at the first corner and only Gené managed to went through unscathed. Colciago drove wide and dropped down at the back of the field, while Müller rejoined but retired soon afterwards due to a broken suspension.

The fight between Farfus and Priaulx was breathtaking; they tangled at the end of lap 4, nearly allowing Gené and Thompson to benefit from the situation and jump ahead.

For the whole distance Priaulx put a nearly unbearable pressure on Farfus, but the Brazilian managed to drive all the assaults back and went to grab his third victory of the season.

With Gené and Thompson closely chasing the leaders, Yvan Muller, Robert Huff, Gabriele, Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro delivered an exciting battle for the remaining points.

Monteiro lost few places after clashing with Tarquini and then found himself involved in another tough duel with Alessandro Zanardi for the eighth position, with the Italian getting the worst of it.

In the early stages Zanardi’s team-mate Félix Porteiro was also fighting for the points, but then had to observe a drive-through penalty due to a jump start.

Massimiliano Pedalà won the Independents’ race, giving SEAT Sport Italia their second success of the day. Pedalà, who started from the back of the grid after being caught in the pile up at the start of the first race, took the lead on lap 10 after Sergio Hernández spun and dropped down.