Fabrizio Giovanardi wins first heat at Salzburg

Fabrizio Giovanardi has won the first race of the two race FIA European Touring Car Cup at the Salzburgring from Pepe Oriola, with Michel Nykjaer’s DNS ruling him out of a third Cup title.

Hartmann Honda Racing driver Fabrizio Giovanardi has won the first race of the 2011 European Touring Car Cup at the Salzburbring, with the 44-year-old chased the whole way by 17-year-old Pepe Oriola’s SEAT León TDI.

Giovanardi started from pole position and had already picked up the bonus three points as a result. The veteran touring car ace kept the SEAT behind him for almost the whole race, though the young Spaniard briefly got his nose ahead on the fourth lap.

The conditions were wet throughout with the race starting behind the safety car, adding two laps to the race.

Igor Skuz in the S1600 ATM Racing Ford Fiesta was the first casualty of the race at the green flag, spun into the gravel trap at the first chicane by the S2000 Honda Accord of Christian Fischer. Although the Ukrainian was restarted by the marshals, he was later black flagged for receiving outside assistance.

Fischer’s Honda picked up a broken front-left wheel as a result of the incident and would be classified as the only retirement of the race.

Michel Nykjaer’s European Touring Car Cup weekend had become a disaster after failing to start the race in the Chevrolet Cruze. The Dane managed to get one lap in after joining the track on lap 11, but officially is classified as 18th and is no longer in contention for the trophy, with just 10 points available from race two and Giovanardi leading the cup with 13 points.

It was a good race for Tomas Engstöm, who remained in touch with the leading pair during the race and took the final spot on the podium in his Gulf-liveried Honda Accord.

Ibrahim Okyay recovered to fifth after falling behind the BMW of Mehdi Bennani and Wolfgang Treml’s Honda Accord early on.

ADAC Procar regulars Jens Weimann and Peter Rikli battled together for the final points paying positions, with Weimann coming out on top. The two finished 56 seconds adrift from Giovanardi after 14 laps, and will make up the front row for race two with the top eight reversed grid.

Thomas Mühlenz took victory in the Super 1600 class with ninth overall in his Roscher Racing Ford Fiesta, with Aleksander Tokic’s Honda Civic Type-R taking victory in the Super Production class.

The second and final race gets underway at 14:35 CET.