WTCC -Rounds 7 and 8 – 02nd/03rd June 2007, Pau – Race

BMW celebrates one-two win in Pau – Farfus takes second victory in 2007.

Pau (France), 03^rd June 2007. Augusto Farfus (BRA) of BMW Team Germany is the winner of the eighth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the “Circuit de Pau”, the 23-year-old claimed the second win of the season ahead of BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GBR) and Tiago Monteiro (POR/SEAT). In Sunday’s morning race, Farfus had taken chequered flag in seventh position. Porteiro was the best-placed BMW national team driver, crossing the line in fifth place, directly followed by Priaulx.
The race win marked the crowning finale of an eventful weekend for Farfus. His spectacular qualifying accident had forced the Schnitzer crew to perform a nightshift, in order to repair the heavily damaged BMW 320si WTCC. Additionally, Farfus was relegated from third to 13^th position on the first race’s grid due to a penalty after the Valencia weekend. Despite these imponderabilities the BMW works driver delivered two flawless races, thus rewarding the team for their exceptional work in Pau.
Farfus’s team-mate Jörg Müller (GER), who had held the championship lead prior to the races at the 2.760-kilometre track, left Pau empty-handed after finishing 11^th and 10^th respectively. Therefore, Priaulx is now the sole leader of the Drivers’ Championship. The 32-year-old is the only WTCC driver who managed to win points in each of the eight rounds held this year. The reigning champion has 42 points under his belt, just two points ahead of runner-up Farfus. Müller follows in third place, lying 11 points behind Priaulx. BMW consolidated its lead in the Constructors’ Championship. The brand increased its tally to a total of 106 points.
The crowds in Pau witnessed an almost incident-free first race. Only five drivers were forced to retire on the twisty street circuit. Unfortunately, Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) of BMW Team Italy-Spain was one of them. On lap 12, he hit the barriers and had to pit in with a damaged front suspension. At the start, the 40-year-old had gained several positions. His fellow BMW drivers did just the same. Farfus performed the biggest leap forward: At the end of lap 1, he was already running in ninth place, putting SEAT’s Jordi Gené (ESP) under pressure. Porteiro also delivered an excellent “rolling” start and improved from eighth to sixth place. Seventh-placed Priaulx, who got passed by the Spaniard, remained in Porteiro’s rear mirror for the remaining 19 laps. From 16^th grid position, Müller gained two places at the start.
Overtaking manoeuvres remained a rarity in the narrow streets of Pau. However, Farfus proved that it is possible though. His patience paid off on lap 16, when he succeeded in overtaking Gené. Due to the retirement of Chevrolet’s Nicola Larini (ITA) three laps earlier, the BMW drivers had already gained one place each without a struggle. Farfus was now running in seventh position, defending it until the end of the race. Larini’s retirement also meant an improvement for Porteiro and Priaulx. Running in fifth place, Porteiro withstood the pressure of the two-time World Champion, thus securing his best result of the season. Müller crossed the line in 11^th position. With three cars within the first two rows, the BMW national teams had made perfect use of the reversed grid order and were in a promising position for race two.
Pole-sitter Farfus and Priaulx laid the foundation for the third BMW one-two of the year already at the start, when they both overtook Gené. Until the very end of the race the pairing remained in close range to each other. Nevertheless, Priaulx did not get tempted to try a dangerous overtaking move. At the end of the day, the two BMW drivers crossed the line with a gap of almost five seconds to Monteiro. Porteiro also was on his way to secure a place on the podium. At the start, he defended fourth position and even passed Gené for third place on lap 11. During this overtaking manoeuvre, however, both cars touched and Porteiro’s left front wing suffered considerable damage. Only a few corners later, he retired with a broken wheel rim.
Zanardi executed a remarkable start from the back of the field and was already running in 13^th place, when the safety car came out on lap 3. A total of four cars crashed out of the race in this massive carom at the end of the start-finish straight. When the green flags were waved again on lap seven, Zanardi continued his catch up. After Müller had a brief off-track moment when launching an attack against Tom Coronel (NLD/SEAT), the Italian seized the opportunity and overtook the BMW Team Germany driver. In the end, however, both narrowly missed out on a points finish. Zanardi finished ninth, Müller crossed the line in tenth place.

Reactions:

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
”It’s not possible for me to understand completely what happened this weekend. Until Saturday night it was not even sure if I could start at all here. But the team did a fantastic job. This win belongs the Schnitzer guys! In the first race, I laid worked my way up to seventhplace. The start for race two worked perfectly well, and I was able to find my rhythm in the lead. Andy put me under pressure, but in the end it’s extremely difficult to overtake here. This has been an incredible weekend for me.”

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
”With 55 kilograms of handicap weight, it was far from easy on this track. Therefore, I’m ecstatic about my 11 championship points. In the first race, I had no chance to attack Félix due to the weight difference. So I focussed not to make any mistake. I was in the same situation in race two, this time with Augusto. It’s true, I haven’t won a race so far this year. But the championship is far more important. The first win will come.”

Stats and results Pau:

Circuit / Date	Circuit de Pau / 03rd June 2007
Lap / total distance	2.760 km/52.44 km (19 laps)
Pole position 2007	Alain Menü (Chevrolet, 1:21.930 minutes)
Winner 2007	Race 1: Alain Menü (Chevrolet) Race 2: Augusto Farfus (BMW)
Fastest laps 2007	Race 1: Alain Menü (Chevrolet, 1:23.054 minutes) Race 2: Augusto Farfus (BMW, 1:24.190 minutes)

Race Calendar:

11^th March – Curitiba (BRA), 6^th May – Zandvoort (NLD), 20^th May – Valencia (ESP), 3^rd June – Pau (FRA), 17^th June – Brno (CZE), 8^th July – Porto (POR), 29^th July – Anderstorp (SWE), 26^th August – Oschersleben (GER), 23^rd September – Brands Hatch (GBR), 7^th October – Monza (ITA), 18^th November – Macau (CHN).

Πηγή: BMW