Andy Priaulx takes brilliant victory

Triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx has claimed his first victory of the 2009 season. He did so by driving from 14th on the grid at Oschersleben, in what can only be classed as an eventful race.

The cars all lined up well for the rolling start, and as the leaders successfully negotiated the tight turn one with clear track, chaos ensued behind.

A mid-pack accident involving Nicola Larini and Jörg Müller caused havoc, with many cars colliding. Müller was the most unfortunate, and his car was very badly damaged, with the Schnitzer BMW team facing an uphill struggle to get the car ready for race two.

Rob Huff was also forced to retire after getting caught up in the incident, along with Jordi Gené.

The story of the race was all about Priaulx. He started from 14th on the grid, and successfully navigated the first corner incident, and thanks to a combination of skill and luck, he found himself in fifth..

He set about chasing Jaap van Lagen, and it wasn’t long before he made his move. Once past, he set about chasing Tom Coronel and made light work of passing by, as he did by Rickard Rydell in the next few laps.

Priaulx then began to chase race leader Tarquini. He caught the Italian, and made the pass. Tarquini tried to fight back but it was to no avail.

From that point on Priaulx pulled out a lead, and crossed the line to take his first victory of what has been a difficult 2009 season for the Briton.

The race saw Marin Colak start from second in his petrol SEAT Leon, but he was shuffled down the order as the first laps were run. The Czech driver eventually finished 12th.

Jaap van Lagen started fourth in the Lada Priora, and he ran well throughout, despite a performance deficit on the straights. He began to struggle with tyre wear towards the end of the race, whilst being pursued by a tight group of cars including Nicola Larini and Augusto Farfus.

The Dutchman drove well, but on the last corner a small slide combined with rear contact from Larini saw him spear off into the gravel trap. He rejoined but could only manage 11th place.

Tarquini crossed the line in second followed by Rydell and Coronel, with Larini fifth after van Lagen’s unfortunate incident.

2008 champion Yvan Muller had a race to forget. The Frenchman collided with a tyre bale whilst dicing with Farfus. The contact caused damage to the front right corner of his SEAT Leon, and forced him out of the running.