[BudVlad]

Location: 30 km South East of London
Lap distance: 3,703 m
Race distance: 2 x 14 laps
2008 winners:
Race 1: Jörg Müller (BMW 320si)
Race 2: Alain Menu (Chevrolet Lacetti)

[BudVlad]

Practice 1:
Augusto Farfus set the fastest time in first free practice session.

1. Augusto Farfus BMW 1m34.071s
2. Yvan Muller SEAT 1m34.173s +0.102
3. Andy Priaulx BMW 1m34.193s +0.122
4. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1m34.265s +0.194
5. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1m34.268s +0.197
6. Rickard Rydell SEAT 1m34.419s +0.348
7. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1m34.493s +0.422
8. Robert Dahlgren Volvo 1m34.548s +0.477
9. Robert Huff Chevrolet 1m34.602s +0.531
10. Norbert Michelisz SEAT 1m34.778s +0.707
11. Tom Boardman SEAT 1m34.817s +0.746
12. Tom Coronel SEAT 1m34.911s +0.840
13. Jordi Gene SEAT 1m34.939s +0.868
14. Alex Zanardi BMW 1m35.001s +0.930
15. Jorg Muller BMW 1m35.156s +1.085
16. Felix Porteiro BMW 1m35.190s +1.119
17. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1m35.268s +1.197
18. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1m35.364s +1.293
19. Nicola Larini Chevrolet 1m35.417s +1.346
20. Tommy Rustad Volvo 1m35.431s +1.360
21. Franz Engstler BMW 1m36.189s +2.118
22. Jaap van Lagen Lada 1m36.220s +2.149
23. Philip Geipel BMW 1m36.343s +2.272
24. Vito Postiglione BMW 1m36.406s +2.335
25. James Thompson Lada 1m36.414s +2.343
26. Kristian Poulsen BMW 1m36.933s +2.862
27. Kirill Ladygin Lada 1m38.097s +4.026

[BudVlad]

Augusto Farfus continued to set the pace for BMW in the final free practice.

1. Augusto Farfus BMW 1m33.864s
2. Jorg Muller BMW 1m34.198s +0.334
3. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1m34.230s +0.366
4. Nicola Larini Chevrolet 1m34.263s +0.399
5. Andy Priaulx BMW 1m34.270s +0.406
6. Tom Coronel SEAT 1m34.273s +0.409
7. Robert Huff Chevrolet 1m34.404s +0.540
8. Rickard Rydell SEAT 1m34.561s +0.697
9. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1m34.615s +0.751
10. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1m34.865s +1.001
11. Felix Porteiro BMW 1m34.888s +1.024
12. Robert Dahlgren Volvo 1m34.900s +1.036
13. Alex Zanardi BMW 1m34.926s +1.062
14. Tom Boardman SEAT 1m35.055s +1.191
15. Jordi Gene SEAT 1m35.185s +1.321
16. Yvan Muller SEAT 1m35.200s +1.336
17. Franz Engstler BMW 1m35.239s +1.375
18. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1m35.278s +1.414
19. Philip Geipel BMW 1m35.318s +1.454
20. Jaap van Lagen Lada 1m35.401s +1.537
21. Vito Postiglione BMW 1m35.464s +1.600
22. Norbert Michelisz SEAT 1m35.502s +1.638
23. Tommy Rustad Volvo 1m35.674s +1.810
24. Kristian Poulsen BMW 1m35.687s +1.823
25. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1m36.366s +2.502
26. James Thompson Lada 1m36.531s +2.667
27. Kirill Ladygin Lada 1m37.904s +4.040

[BudVlad]

Menu and his RML team-mate Rob Huff each produced a tremendous lap in the dying seconds of Q2 to pinch the front row from their rival BMWs.

Pos Driver Car Q1 Q2
1. Alain Menu Chevrolet 1m34.088s 1m33.521s
2. Rob Huff Chevrolet 1m34.184s 1m33.618s
3. Andy Priaulx BMW 1m34.216s 1m33.670s
4. Augusto Farfus BMW 1m33.836s 1m33.696s
5. Rickard Rydell SEAT 1m34.093s 1m33.871s
6. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 1m34.294s 1m33.963s
7. Nicola Larini Chevrolet 1m34.110s 1m33.968s
8. Jorg Muller BMW 1m34.187s 1m34.195s
9. Tiago Monteiro SEAT 1m34.182s 1m34.204s
10. Norbert Michelisz SEAT 1m34.213s 1m34.857s
11. Yvan Muller SEAT 1m34.366s
12. Felix Porteiro BMW 1m34.380s
13. Robert Dahlgren Volvo 1m34.497s
14. Tom Coronel SEAT 1m34.559s
15. Sergio Hernandez BMW 1m34.680s
16. Jordi Gene SEAT 1m34.859s
17. Stefano D'Aste BMW 1m34.921s
18. Alex Zanardi BMW 1m35.033s
19. Jaap van Lagen Lada 1m35.118s
20. Tom Boardman SEAT 1m35.227s
21. Tommy Rustad Volvo 1m35.363s
22. Kristian Poulsen BMW 1m35.517s
23. Vito Postiglione BMW 1m35.710s
24. Franz Engstler BMW 1m35.831s
25. James Thompson Lada 1m35.950s
26. Philip Geipel BMW 1m36.245s
27. Kirill Ladygin Lada 1m37.102s

[BudVlad]

Four drivers get penalties for race one

Jorg Muller, Robert Dahlgren, Jordi Gene and Kristian Poulsen have all received grid penalties.
Schnitzer Motorsport BMW driver Muller had qualified eighth in Q2, but he was slapped with a five-place penalty for driving in the fast lane of the pits before the pit lane had been opened at the beginning of the session.

[BudVlad]

Alain Menu took victory at Brands Hatch for the fourth consecutive year in today's first race.

1. Alain Menu Chevrolet 28m25.945s
2. Rob Huff Chevrolet +1.051
3. Andy Priaulx BMW +1.240
4. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT +2.024
5. Rickard Rydell SEAT +2.420
6. Jorg Muller BMW +5.815
7. Tiago Monteiro SEAT +6.300
8. Augusto Farfus BMW +8.307
9. Stefano D'Aste BMW +9.225
10. Tom Coronel SEAT +10.884
11. Tom Boardman SEAT +11.737
12. Alex Zanardi BMW +12.415
13. Jordi Gene SEAT +13.331
14. Felix Porteiro BMW +13.675
15. Robert Dahlgren Volvo +14.087
16. Sergio Hernandez BMW +17.753
17. Philip Geipel BMW +22.188
18. James Thompson Lada +25.447
19. Kirill Ladygin Lada +37.466
20. Kristian Poulsen BMW +41.831
21. Vito Postiglione BMW +42.677
22. Nicola Larini Chevrolet +1 lap

[BudVlad]

Augusto Farfus strolled to his third World Touring Car victory of the season in race two. His Schnitzer Motorsport BMW team-mate Jorg Muller came in second place.

1. Augusto Farfus BMW 28m09.979s
2. Jorg Muller BMW +2.061
3. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT +7.030
4. Rickard Rydell SEAT +7.398
5. Andy Priaulx BMW +7.749
6. Rob Huff Chevrolet +8.427
7. Yvan Muller SEAT +16.651
8. Tiago Monteiro SEAT +17.444
9. Sergio Hernandez BMW +18.191
10. Tom Boardman SEAT +19.523
11. Tom Coronel SEAT +19.969
12. Alex Zanardi BMW +20.183
13. Stefano D'Aste BMW +21.589
14. Robert Dahlgren Volvo +22.255
15. Felix Porteiro BMW +22.923
16. Jordi Gene SEAT +23.053
17. Nicola Larini Chevrolet +23.594
18. Alain Menu Chevrolet +24.021
19. Franz Engstler BMW +28.723
20. Philip Geipel BMW +29.318
21. Jaap van Lagen Lada +35.320
22. James Thompson Lada +36.187
23. Vito Postiglione BMW +36.735
24. Kirill Ladygin Lada +4 laps

[Mark]

Brands Hatch, 19th July 2009. Thanks to his third win of the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship, BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus (BR) successfully reduced the gap to championship leader Yvan Muller (FR). At Brands Hatch (GB) the 25-year-old won the 16th round of the year. As Farfus’ team-mate Jörg Müller (DE) finished second, BMW was able to celebrate its third one-two finish of the season. Andy Priaulx (GB) of BMW Team UK was BMW driver number three on a podium, after coming third in the first race of the day.

In an eventful race one, Priaulx took the chequered flag behind Chevrolet’s race winner Alain Menu (CH) and Robert Huff (GB). Müller finished sixth and collected three points, while Farfus notched up one point for eighth – and made sure of pole for race two. .The two BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers, Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Sergio Hernández (ES), however, left Great Britain empty-handed.

As championship front-runner Muller only managed to score two points this weekend, Farfus closed in on the SEAT driver and now lies just six points adrift in third. Between these two, Gabriele Tarquini (IT) is second on 77 points. In the Manufacturers’ Championship BMW also gained ground on SEAT, and is now second with 201 points, just ten points behind the leaders.

Moments before the start of race one’s formation lap a brief rain shower hit the 3.703-kilometre circuit. Fortunately this was the only shower of the morning, and the race started without any delay. Nevertheless, it was just a matter of seconds until the first incident occurred. Farfus was hit by Muller, and dropped back to 24th. While Farfus was about to start an impressive fight back, Priaulx successfully defended his third on the grid. Müller benefited from the turmoil at the start, improving from 13th to eighth.

Towards the end of lap 6 the safety-car was deployed again, after another accident involving several cars had pushed Hernández to the back of the field. At this stage, Priaulx had lost third to Tarquini, while Farfus was running in 20th. Following the re-start, the BMW drivers made up some lost ground: Priaulx gained third back from Tarquini on lap 11, then started to put Huff under pressure. But the local hero couldn’t find a way past his fellow countryman and brought his BMW 320si WTCC home in third. Müller moved up into sixth, Zanardi held 12th after being passed by a storming Farfus, who went on to pass two more cars. When Nicola Larini (IT, Chevrolet) dropped back due to a technical problem, the Brazilian improved to eighth, making sure of a single point and pole position for race two. Hernández crossed the line in 16th.

Thanks to excellent starts the BMW Team Germany pairing laid the foundation for their one-two finish in the second round. Farfus defended his lead, Müller improved from third to second. This order remained unchanged to the chequered flag. Farfus finished 2.061 seconds ahead of his team-mate and celebrated his 12th career victory in the WTCC.

Priaulx was involved in an exciting fight with SEAT’s Tarquini, who he had battle with in race one. Over the course of the complete race he put his rivals under pressure, but couldn’t find a way to get past. Priaulx had to make do with fifth.
Zanardi was running in seventh, when another collision saw him losing several positions. The Italian got sandwiched by Huff and Tiago Monteiro (PT, SEAT), went off the track and ultimately finished 12th again. Hernández worked his way up from 16th place on the grid, but just missed out on points by making it over the line in ninth.

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
“This has been a complicated weekend for me. In race one I got hit and lost a lot of positions. For fractions of a second I thought: That’s it. But then I kept on pushing hard and fortunately made it to eighth. In race two I lead the way along with Jörg Müller, and together we celebrated another one-two finish. This success to a huge degree belongs to my team-mate and the entire crew, who once more did a great job. After the summer break I have to keep on scoring points consistently, in order to keep the title fight open.”

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
“I really wanted a win today and I had a car that was faster than the guys in front in both races. I had some good battles with Rob Huff and Gabriele Tarquini and was faster, but I could just not make any of my moves stick. I tried on many occasions but they defended heavily and it is difficult to overtake round this track. I have the speed this year to win, but if just hasn’t happened to date. Hopefully that will come later in the season.”

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
“Everyone is trying to get the most of each race for the championship fight. I’m glad that Augusto and I scored the best-possible result for BMW today. My car was just fantastic. Following our good starts I was really confident we would be able to keep the one-two right to the finish. And fortunately that’s exactly what happened.”

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“After a disappointing first race I managed to work my way into the points’ positions in race two. But then, on lap 10, the track was just too tight for three cars running side by side. It’s a pity as the team deserved to be rewarded with points today.”

Sergio Hernández (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“The races didn’t favour me. In race one I was involved in a collision which wasn’t my own fault. Then I finished ninth in round two, which is a thankless position as you don’t get points for it. We will work hard during the summer break to come back more competitive in Oschersleben.”

[vitologarcia]

it was a sad weekend at Brands Hatch! Henry Surtees died and I hope he rests in peace.