ALFA DELIVERS A CRUSHING BLOW TO BMW’S
TOURING CAR HOPES
Alfa Romeo delivered a crushing blow to BMW’s hopes for victory at the weekend’s (10-11 May 2003) round of the European Touring Car Championship with 45,000 motor sport fans in Sicily witnessing the Alfa Romeo 156 GTA wining the fifth and sixth rounds, including an emphatic 1-2-3 in round six.
Roberto Colciago was clearly the man to beat at history Sicilian racetrack at Pergusa, where Alfa Romeo have won every ETC race since 1997, winning race one after an 11 lap battle with Dirk Muller and Gabriele Tarquini. In race two Tarquini struck back, placing his Alfa Romeo 156 GTA at the front of an all-Alfa Podium.
Tarquini now hold’s joint first place in the ETC drivers’ championship with Jorg Muller, while Alfa Romeo – the reigning ETC champions – have narrowed their gap on BMW to just five points in the manufacturers’ race.
“It was really a great weekend for me,” said Roberto Colciago at the finish. “I won the first race and did all the race with Dirk Müller following me. It was very difficult to keep him behind me. He had a few opportunities to attack me, but he did not take the risk. In the second race, I finished second behind Gabriele, which was a great result for the team. I was impressed by this young driver, Alessandro Balzan, who was really good in the beginning and who let me pass quite easily. He did a really good race. It is important that a young driver like him finishes in a good position. I am very happy as this was my first win for Alfa Romeo.”
Gabriele Tarquini was no less enthusiastic about his Sicilian weekend at the races.
The Alfa 156 GTA suits this kind of track and although BMW has managed to close the gap we still beat them,” said Tarquini at the finish. “The race performances were very close. We won a lot of points and now we are only five behind BMW in the Manufacturers Championship. Dirk was very good, especially in the Schumacher chicane, where he was much faster than Roberto and me. Therefore, it was very difficult for me to try to attack him and in the end I couldn’t overtake him. In the middle of the first race, I hit the tyres in a chicane and broke the front splitter. I lost some downforce. My front tyres went off and after a few laps, I was not that fast anymore. The second race was much easier; I managed to overtake Priaulx, Balzan and Jörg very early on, as I had Colciago behind me, to watch my back. We only had to avoid mistakes and get to the end of the race.
It was also a successful weekend for the Alfa-driving independents, with Alessandro Balzan driving his Scuderia Bigazzi-run independent Alfa Romeo 156 GTA to an outstanding third position overall, while Fabio Francia had won the Independents’ Race 1, finishing fifth overall in his Clever Cats R&M Alfa.
It was not a rewarding weekend for BMW. Dirk Muller, a close second in race one, went out right at the start of race two, while Jorg Muller briefly lead race two before a mechanical fault halted his BMW. Fabrizio Giovanardi, the ex-Alfa driver who is the reigning champion, tackled the Pergusa track for the first time in something other than an Alfa Romeo and saw his Pergusa winning streak come to come to a halt.
Race One
Colciago sprinted to take the lead from the pole, ahead of Dirk Müller, Tarquini and Giovanardi. Francia took a bad start and lost two positions, from fourth to sixth. At the first corner, the Seat team decided to take itself out of contention, with Diefenbacher’s car spinning and hitting Gené’s sister car; both the Seat Toledos rejoined at the back, but with extensive damage.
The leading trio, Colciago- Dirk Müller-Tarquini, was chased by a group of five drivers: Giovanardi, Priaulx, Francia, Jörg Müller and Larini. A bit behind Balzan, Coronel and García were fighting for the ninth position. The action was packed, with Dirk Müller and Tarquini biting Colciago’s tail and putting pressure on him. At the same time Francia was closely chasing Priaulx, and Larini was attacking Jörg Müller. Diefenbacher and Gené retired and the SEAT team started repairing the cars for the second race. On lap 4 Giovanardi hit the tyres at the Schumacher chicane, damaging the front splitter of his BMW. At the end of the fifth lap, Colciago, Dirk Müller and Tarquini were within only 0.8 seconds, and they have managed to build a small margin ahead of their pursuers.
With his car not performing correctly after the splitter loss, Giovanardi lost four position to Priaulx, Francia, Jörg Müller and Larini, slipping down from fourth to eighth. On lap 5 Couto retired due to brake problems; two laps later Cayrolle stopped after his car hit the barrier due to a puncture to the front left tyre. The fight for the lead intensified: Dirk Müller drove beyond the kerbs at the first chicane and onto the grass, while Colciago went wide at the exit of the Schumacher; the gap between them was reduced to 0.172 seconds at the end of the eighth lap.
The three leaders continued to chase each other until the final lap, when Dirk tried a last attack, risking to his car at the fast chicane. They dived together on the finish line: Colciago scored his first win as an Alfa Romeo driver, with Dirk Müller and Tarquini second and third. Priaulx managed to defend his fourth position from Francia, who obtained an excellent fifth place overall and also won the Independents’ race. Jörg Müller and Larini were classified sixth and seventh, with Balzan in eight, scoring the last point and claiming pole position for the second race.
Race Two
Alfa-independent, Balzan, started well from the pole and took the lead; while a problem in the starting-light system caught a few drivers by surprise. Larini stalled his engine from the second spot of the grid and this caused a collision between Francia’s and Dirk Müller’s cars.
At the exit of the first chicane, Jörg Müller jumped into the lead overtaking Balzan, while Tarquini passed Priaulx and moved on to third. At the end of the first lap Francia and Dirk Müller both retired as a consequence of their collision. Jörg Müller was pushing hard, but Tarquini came from behind: the Italian driver overtook Balzan for second position on lap 2 and managed to close on the BMW’s tail. On the same lap, Colciago stole third place from Balzan.
On lap 3 Jörg Müller began having power-steering problems, due to a broken alternator belt, and Tarquini passed him at the fast chicane. The German driver lost second place to Colciago at the following Schumacher chicane, then went into the gravel at the last chicane, finally coming back to the pits and retirement. On lap 4, Giovanardi spun at the first chicane while he was chasing Huisman for the eighth position. The Tarquini-Colciago duo was now in a comfortable lead, while Balzan was fighting hard to defend his third position from Priaulx. The latter was chased by Larini in fifth position.
A few metres behind, Ruberti, Coronel, Huisman, García and Diefenbacher were battling for the sixth position. Couto retired, his Honda Civic still plagued by brake problems. On lap 7 Rydell retired due to an engine problem. On lap 8 Gené was also forced out of the race after he hit the tyres in a chicane. At the same time, SEAT’s other driver, Diefenbacher managed to break into the point-zone; he overtook Huisman and then Coronel, moving up to eighth. His moment of glory did not last long, because immediately afterwards he went off when a front tyre failed.
While Tarquini and Colciago were cruising nose-to-tail to claim another win for Alfa Romeo in Pergusa, Priaulx tried a final move to pass Balzan for third, but the young Italian managed to resist, claiming his first podium in the championship and Scuderia Bigazzi’s best result since the ETCC adopted the Super 2000 regulations. Balzan also won the Independent drivers’ classification. Larini, Ruberti, García and Coronel obtained the last positions in the points.
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