BMW ETCC Race Report from Anderstorp
BMW Corporate Communications 2003 European Touring Car Championship Rounds 13, 14 - 6/7 September, Anderstorp (Sweden) - RACE Jörg Müller takes Championship lead The battle for the ETCC drivers' championship is incredibly close after Anderstorp with BMW Team Deutschland's Jörg Müller now in the lead by two points thanks to two fourth places. Andy Priaulx (BMW Team Great Britain), the only BMW driver to lead one of the races, has also increased his chances of the title after finishing eighth and second in the two races and is now third in the points table. After some disappointing results recently, the weekend was a lot better for BMW Team Italy- Spain with Antonio Garcia matching his second place from Brno. Thankfully for the BMW national teams the races were much better than qualifying and now in the manufacturers' championship BMW leads Alfa Romeo by 38 points. BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport - Charly Lamm: "We are very pleased to come away from Anderstorp with Jörg leading the drivers championship, but the races today showed how much can happen and how tough and exciting the next three events are sure to be. We also saw a very strong performance from the Alfas this weekend and we, therefore, really have to work hard to keep up with them. After race one prospects looked very good for Dirk, but he didn't score in the second race after flat spotting his tyre. The only positive aspect is he will go to Oschersleben with no handicap weight." Dirk Müller (GER) - Carrying 40 kilos of ballast: Qual 9th; Race 1 - 3rd; Race 2 - DNF : "The first race was really good and I was surprised to be able to overtake lots of cars after starting ninth and finishing third. I touched Jörg but that was not a big problem. I overtook Jörg after he had his power steering problem but had to be careful as there was oil on the track. In race two I wasnt really concentrating and was surprised to see the cars braking in front of me after the long straight. I pressed too hard on the brake pedal, locked the front right came closer and closer to Jörg, hoped I would not hit him but at that point I flat spotted my tyre completely. I was hoping my tyre would not explode as the car was shaking, and then all of a sudden it did just that. It was completely my mistake but the good thing is I am light for Oschersleben." Jörg Müller (GER) - Carrying 20 kilos of ballast: Qual 4th; Race 1 - 4th; Race 2 - 4th : "Although I am leading the championship it is going to be a tough battle. We have to work hard now if I want to do that as this weekend I was not that competitive. I did a good lap in qualifying but my car was not that good for the race. It also didn't help that I had a problem at the end of the first race with the power steering, as a line from the pump to the steering rack was broken. Luckily the team fitted a new one and it worked for race two with no problems." BMW Team Great Britain - RBM - Bart Mampaey: "I am a little bit more cheerful than yesterday. I think we improved the car between qualifying and the warm-up. The target was to finish in the top eight in the first race. He was still not that happy with the car so on the grid for race two we made another set-up change. He made a brilliant start in the race, as he did in race one. Larini came from behind and when he was in second place Andy was not able to defend his lead so he drove away from us. Andy did very well to hang on to second and we came away with a lot of points from a race weekend which didnt look very good for us after qualifying. We shall now see what happens in Oschersleben." Andy Priaulx (GBR) - Carrying 20 kilos of ballast: Qual 10th; Race 1 - 8th; Race 2 - 2nd : "It was a damage limitation exercise. We had been up and down a bit this weekend but I had to drive sensibly and get the result for the team. In the second race I defended hard but there was no way I could hold Larini back and it was just a matter of letting him past me without me losing any time. That was not a problem and he drove past me into the distance. I just got my head down and tried not to make any mistakes. We went up in the championship so I played that game this weekend." BMW Team Italy-Spain - Ravaglia Motorsport - Roberto Ravaglia: "I don't think Antonio could have done better than he did today. Fabrizio did a good start in the first race and then he went back and finished in tenth position, but luckily the second race was okay." Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA) - Qual 8th; Race 1 - 10th; Race 2 - 16th: "It has been a reverse season for me, the wind has changed. I don't remember a season like this. I don't say unlucky as I don't believe in luck. I just hope it will get better for the final three weekends." Antonio Garcia (ESP) - Qual 5th ; Race 1 - 2nd; Race 2 - 2nd: "I did a good start in race one, but after the first lap I was third. I tried to overtake Jörg and as I was confident with the car I was able to do it. I tried to push a lot but I had problems with second gear so I was not able to do anything and just had to save my position. We had some good fights and I had good fun. In race two I also had a good start but then had problems with Huisman and could not get by him. At that time Fabrizio overtook me and then I had a fight with several drivers and so the front group were able to go away from us. After that I was faster than my team mate and overtook him but, despite the fact my car felt very good and was fast, I was not able to catch Jörg." Results: Race 1 - 13 laps - 1. Roberto Colciago ( ITA /Alfa Romeo ) 21:55.420, 2. Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) 22:00.735, 3. Dirk Müller (GER/ BMW 320i) 22:01.979, 4. Jörg Müller (GER/ BMW 320i) 22:02.924, 5. Duncan Huisman (NL/BMW 320i) 22:05.371, 6. Nicola Larini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22:06.026, 7. Rickard Rydell (SWE/Volvo) 22:06.223, 8. Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) 22:06.506. Race 2 - 13 laps - 1. Nicola Larini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 21:52.580, 2. Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) 21:53.689, 3. Rickard Rydell (SWE/Volvo) 21:54.397, 4. Jörg Müller (GER/ BMW 320i) 21:57.418, 5. Antonio Garcia (ESP/ BMW 320i) 22:00.111, 6. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/BMW 320i) 22:02.993 7.Duncan Huisman (NED/BMW 320i) 22:09.162, 8. Alessandro Balzan (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 22:12.332. Championships Positions: Drivers: 1. J Müller 72, 2. Larini 70, 3. Priaulx 66, 4. Tarquini 64, 5. D Müller 64, 6. Colciago 47, 7. Giovanardi 35, 8. Huisman 34, 9. Garcia 33, 10. Rydell 18, 11. Coronel 11, 12. Balzan 10, 13. Ruberti 9, 14. Francia 4, 15. Gené 4, 16. Couto 3, 17. Tavano 2.Manufacturers: 1. BMW. 206, 2. Alfa Romeo 168, 3. Seat 4.
