Brno: Tarquini beats Zanardi in race 2

Gabriele Tarquini held off a charging Alessandro Zanardi to salvage a valuable victory for SEAT Sport from the weekend in Brno, and extend his lead in the championship. It was a breathtaking race. Once the start had shaken out, Yvan Muller held onto his lead from Tarquini in second and James Thompson in third. Chevrolet’s Robert Huff had a good start up from ninth to fifth, as did BMW Italy-Spain’s Félix Porteiro who ended the first lap in fourth.

Tarquini overtook Muller early in the race, as he appeared to struggle for pace, and then attempted to build up a healthy lead, which eventually saved his race. There was a fierce fight for other points' positions as Zanardi, Jörg Müller and Huff clashed on the track, the latter losing his rear bumper; Alain Menu managed to take advantage and slip through. Zanardi moved up to fifth and Müller slipped down the field ending up finishing eighth. There were further notable overtaking moves by Menu on Muller, Zanardi on Thompson and Augusto Farfus overtaking Rickard Rydell and Porteiro on his way to fourth position.

Zanardi chased down Tarquini, diving up the inside on the final lap, but having to settle for second position. Huff overtook Yvan Muller for the final podium place, but had to fend off Farfus in the final corners. Porteiro recovered from several clashes to fifth position, having overtaken Yvan Muller on the final lap, who had to settle for sixth. Menu lost his third position when he ran wide at a corner and slipped down to seventh. Jörg Müller scrambled back up to eighth followed by Andy Priaulx. James Thompson ended up in tenth, having begun the race beside the pole sitter. He lacked the pace of the other cars and after being past by several cars, he clashed with Porteiro and fell back down the grid as cars shot past him.

In the Independents' class Stefano D'Aste was leading the race until Sergio Hernández and Franz Engstler went either side; Engstler and D'Aste clashed and went out, enabling Hernández to gain his second race win of the year.

Results

Pos

Driver Car Time
1. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT Leon TDI 22:04.109
2. Alessandro Zanardi BMW 320si +0.360
3. Robert Huff Chevrolet Lacetti +5.410
4. Augusto Farfus BMW 320si +5.718
5. Felix Porteiro BMW 320si +8.192
6. Yvan Muller SEAT Leon TDI +11.931
7. Alain Menu Chevrolet Lacetti +12.143
8. Jorg Muller BMW 320si +13.786
9. Andy Priaulx BMW 320si +14.820
10. James Thompson Honda Accord Euro R +17.158
11. Tiago Monteiro SEAT Leon TDI +17.416
12. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Lacetti +17.818
13. Tom Coronel SEAT Leon +21.348
14. Sergio Hernandez BMW 320si +23.866
15. Jordi Gene SEAT Leon TDI +25.633
16. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT Leon +27.391
17. Andrei Romanov BMW 320si +32.001
18. Rickard Rydell SEAT Leon TDI +33.936
19. Viktor Shapovalov Lada 110 +36.385
20. Ibrahim Okyay BMW 320si +40.991
21. Alexander Lvov Honda Accord Euro R +46.894
22. Stefano D'aste BMW 320si +1:22.034
23. Andrey Smetsky Honda Accord Euro R +2:20.510
24. Franz Engstler BMW 320si +1 lap
Retirements:
Driver Car Laps
Jaap Van Lagen Lada 110 6
Oliver Tielemans BMW 320si 1
Michal Matejovsky SEAT Leon 1
Fastest lap: Zanardi, 2:10.371, on lap 9