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ALFA ROMEO SCORES A DOUBLE WORLD TOURING CAR WIN SPAIN

Alfa Romeo has dominated the Spanish round of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship at the weekend (20 May 2007) with James Thompson and his Alfa Romeo 156 turning a pole position start into a win in race one and than driving what has been described as the best race of the season, as he went from eighth position in the reverse grid start for the second race to take his second win of the day.

“You can't ask better than a pole and two wins, I'm so happy,” said Thompson at the finish.“I think I've only ever won two races in one day a couple of times before but never at this level. You can't do it without the car underneath you and for that I thank the team. All weekend we had worked on being the fastest coming into the first corner and having that made overtaking relatively easy. It was tough with Yvan in race one but in race two Jörg (Müller) and Andy (Priaulx) were very fair. The championship has just started for me!”

Race One

James Thompson turned pole position into his and Alfa Romeo's first win of the season. Nicola Larini of Chevrolet was second followed by SEAT Sport man Yvan Muller. Six cars were involved in incidents in the first corner meaning three laps under safety car conditions.

Andy Priaulx came home 5th, in between SEAT Sport duo Jordi Gené (4th) and Michel Jourdain (6th). Jörg Müller will begin Race 2 from pole after claiming 8th position.

The rolling start saw Tarquini making contact with the side of Monteiro's car. The two veered off in opposite directions. As Monteiro was sent across the track he collected Robert Huff. In a domino effect Roberto Colciago of SEAT Sport Italia, and BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers Félix Porteiro and Alex Zanardi also found themselves in the gravel. They all retired.

Seconds later Augusto Farfus of BMW Team Germany spun and rejoined in 17th.

The race was resumed at the end of lap 4 and while the front runners kept position there was a shuffle towards the back. Luca Rangoni (eventual winner of the independents' race and 7th overall), overtook Pierre-Yves Corthals. Moments after, Tom Coronel and Jörg Müller also passed the Belgian. Müller promoted himself to 8th over the next few laps by overtaking Coronel and Stefano D'Aste. Meanwhile, Larini was defending against Yvan Muller.

Lap 12 saw a further pile-up after Coronel hit the back of D'Aste's BMW 320si which also caught Farfus. All three cars sped into the gravel and while D'Aste crossed the line 12th, Coronel and Farfus finished 21st and 22nd respectively.

Race Two

In undoubtedly the best race of the season so far, James Thompson scored his second victory of the day. He stormed through from eighth on the grid. Jörg Müller crossed the line second while Andy Priaulx claimed the final podium position.

Yvan Muller achieved SEAT Sport's best result by coming home 4th. Chevrolet's Nicola Larini had another strong point-scoring race finishing 5th overall.

Luca Rangoni had a great start and coming into the second corner he was in the lead. By the second corner however Müller had reclaimed the position. Priaulx had promoted himself to third by overtaking Michel Jourdain's SEAT León. The Mexican got a bad start and was overtaken by Thompson on lap one. Alain Menu tried to capitalise and briefly went through but Jourdain reclaimed 7th place.

Lap three was one of battles with Yvan Muller and Priaulx fighting for third, and Thompson with Gené in his sights. Priaulx defended against Muller while Thompson overtook the Gené. Muller then came under fire from the Alfa man and lost 4th place to him.

On lap four Priaulx overtook Rangoni for the podium position. Rangoni then dropped down to finish seventh but still claimed the independent win. It was not an easy task however as his Valencian rookie team-mate Sergio Hernández was challenging all the way and eventually finished a remarkable eighth to score a championship point.

While Müller and Priaulx contested the lead Thompson overtook Rangoni for third and caught up on the pair. At the end of the pit straight on lap seven the Briton edged past Priaulx and then he overtook Müller on the following lap.

On the last lap Menu suffered a technical problem and dropped from 6th to 14th; the position behind team-mate Rob Huff who had also slipped out of the point zone after he went wide on lap 8.

(ENDS)

Race One Results – WTCC Valencia

1 / 15 / James THOMPSON (Alfa Romeo 156 ) / 15 / 00:29:37.113 / 121.69 km/h
2 / 7 / Nicola LARINI (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 15 / 00:29:39.952 / + 2.839
3 / 12 / Yvan MULLER (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:29:41.350 / + 4.237
4 / 9 / Jordi GENE (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:29:41.923 / + 4.810
5 / 1 / Andy PRIAULX (BMW 320si ) / 15 / 00:29:42.605 / + 5.492
6 / 10 / Michel JOURDAIN (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:29:45.996 / + 8.883
7 / 30 / Luca RANGONI (BMW 320si ) / 15 / 00:29:47.013 / + 9.900
8 / 2 / Jorg MULLER (BMW 320si ) / 15 / 00:29:48.886 / + 11.773
9 / 8 / Alain MENU (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 15 / 00:29:53.329 / + 16.216
10 / 31 / Sergio HERNANDEZ (BMW 320si ) / 15 / 00:29:56.323 / + 19.210
11 / 34 / Massimiliano PEDALA (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:30:00.292 / + 23.179
12 / 26 / Stefano D'ASTE (BMW 320si ) / 15 / 00:30:03.104 / + 25.991
13 / 23 / Pierre-Yves CORTHALS (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:30:07.385 / + 30.272
14 / 16 / Olivier TIELEMANS (Alfa Romeo 156 ) / 15 / 00:30:08.652 / + 31.539
15 / 22 / Maurizio CERESOLI (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:30:09.931 / + 32.818
16 / 33 / Miguel FREITAS (Alfa Romeo 156 ) / 15 / 00:30:16.584 / + 39.471
17 / 21 / Emmet O'BRIEN (SEAT Leon ) / 15 / 00:30:17.499 / + 40.386
18 / 36 / Maria De VILLOTA (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 15 / 00:30:19.293 / + 42.180
19 / 50 / Lev FRIDMAN (BMW 320i ) / 15 / 00:30:51.695 / + 1:14.582
20 / 52 / Viktor SHAPOVALOV (BMW 320i ) / 15 / 00:30:56.392 / + 1:19.279
21 / 20 / Tom CORONEL (SEAT Leon ) / 14 / 00:29:51.108 / + 1 LAP
22 / 3 / Augusto FARFUS (BMW 320si ) / 12 / 00:24:53.111 / + 3 LAPS
D.N.F. / 4 / Alessandro ZANARDI (BMW 320si ) / 0 / 00:00:00.000 / + 15 Laps
D.N.F. / 5 / Felix PORTEIRO (BMW 320si ) / 0 / 00:00:00.000 / + 15 Laps
D.N.F. / 6 / Robert HUFF (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 0 / 00:00:00.000 / + 15 Laps
D.N.F. / 11 / Gabriele TARQUINI (SEAT Leon ) / 0 / 00:00:00.000 / + 15 Laps
D.N.F. / 18 / Tiago MONTEIRO (SEAT Leon ) / 0 / 00:00:00.000 / + 15 Laps
D.N.F. / 19 / Roberto COLCIAGO (SEAT Leon ) / 0 / 00:00:00.000 / + 15 Laps

Race Two Results – WTCC Valencia

1 / 15 / James THOMPSON (Alfa Romeo 156 ) / 13 / 00:23:12.920 / 134.56 km/h
2 / 2 / Jorg MULLER (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:14.731 / + 1.811
3 / 1 / Andy PRIAULX (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:15.186 / + 2.266
4 / 12 / Yvan MULLER (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:16.144 / + 3.224
5 / 7 / Nicola LARINI (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 13 / 00:23:17.636 / + 4.716
6 / 9 / Jordi GENE (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:21.744 / + 8.824
7 / 30 / Luca RANGONI (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:23.562 / + 10.642
8 / 31 / Sergio HERNANDEZ (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:24.207 / + 11.287
9 / 10 / Michel JOURDAIN (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:24.969 / + 12.049
10 / 3 / Augusto FARFUS (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:29.961 / + 17.041
11 / 16 / Olivier TIELEMANS (Alfa Romeo 156 ) / 13 / 00:23:30.102 / + 17.182
12 / 18 / Tiago MONTEIRO (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:30.315 / + 17.395
13 / 6 / Robert HUFF (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 13 / 00:23:30.559 / + 17.639
14 / 8 / Alain MENU (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 13 / 00:23:32.978 / + 20.058
15 / 34 / Massimiliano PEDALA (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:37.382 / + 24.462
16 / 23 / Pierre-Yves CORTHALS (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:41.698 / + 28.778
17 / 21 / Emmet O'BRIEN (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:23:46.206 / + 33.286
18 / 26 / Stefano D'ASTE (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:46.466 / + 33.546
19 / 5 / Felix PORTEIRO (BMW 320si ) / 13 / 00:23:56.670 / + 43.750
20 / 36 / Maria De VILLOTA (Chevrolet Lacetti ) / 13 / 00:24:12.713 / + 59.793
21 / 52 / Viktor SHAPOVALOV (BMW 320i ) / 13 / 00:24:16.622 / + 1:03.702
22 / 50 / Lev FRIDMAN (BMW 320i ) / 13 / 00:24:17.971 / + 1:05.051
23 / 22 / Maurizio CERESOLI (SEAT Leon ) / 13 / 00:24:46.563 / + 1:33.643
24 / 11 / Gabriele TARQUINI (SEAT Leon ) / 12 / 00:22:00.985 / + 1 LAP
25 / 20 / Tom CORONEL (SEAT Leon ) / 12 / 00:22:02.246 / + 1 LAP
D.N.F. / 19 / Roberto COLCIAGO (SEAT Leon ) / 8 / 00:14:48.287 / + 5 Laps
D.N.F. / 33 / Miguel FREITAS (Alfa Romeo 156 ) / 4 / 00:07:28.756 / + 9 Laps

For further information, please contact

David Stone
General Manager / Tel: (02) 9701 8000
Alfa Romeo Australia / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
E:
Edward Rowe
Public Relations Manager / Tel: (02) 9701 8000
Alfa Romeo Australia / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Mob: 0407 913 244
E:
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Release Number: 576-alfa-AU

Date of Issue: 4 December 2018. Time of Issue: 18:44:18