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    Posted: 18-March-2009 at 23:21

BMW continues WTCC campaign on difficult territory.

17-03-2009 Press Release

Even at the start of the season, there is no let up in the FIA World Touring Car Championship: Just a fortnight after the first two races in Curitiba (BR), this weekend sees the second WTCC event of the year at Puebla (MX). Due to its many slow corners, the “Autódromo Miguel E. Abed” traditionally favours BMW’s competitors with front-wheel drive. Added to this, naturally-aspirated petrol engines suffer a greater loss of performance at an altitude of 2,200 metres than turbo diesel engines, which are used by the SEAT team.

After BMW’s disappointing races in Brazil, fifth-placed Augusto Farfus (BR), from BMW Team Germany, is the BMW national teams’ highest-ranked driver with seven points in the overall standings. Team-mate Jörg Müller (DE) lies in sixth, thanks to an impressive charge through the field in the rain-drenched second race at Curitiba. BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB) and Sergio Hernández (ES) from BMW Team Italy-Spain were also able to pick up points in the opener. Alessandro Zanardi (IT) will be looking to collect his first points of the year in Puebla.

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
“I’m under no illusions: we are definitely not the favourites to finish top in Puebla this year. My goal is to score some points. To achieve that I need to finish in the top ten in qualifying and come through the two races without any incident.”

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
“I am personally quite happy with my start to the season in Brazil. I feel in great shape and was able to show that in the second race. I am concerned though that the SEATs will again be in a league of their own in Puebla. No matter what, I will give it my best shot once more. In the end, every WTCC point can prove decisive.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
“From a BMW perspective, Puebla is not exactly the ideal place to go for the WTCC. That’s not to say I don’t like the place. I always enjoy being in the Americas – even if Puebla is very different to Curitiba.”

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“The two races in Puebla don’t necessarily come very high on my list of favourites. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to forget about my poor start in Curitiba. The circuit doesn’t suit our cars, and the same goes for the height of the place. But if the opportunity arises to get a good result then I’ll grab it.”

Sergio Hernández (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“The start in Brazil went quite well for me. If possible I want to make it into the second qualifying segment in Puebla, so I can be in a good position to pick up points in the races.”
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kbannon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-March-2009 at 21:30

Farfus claims pole position for BMW in Puebla – Priaulx comes second.

21-03-2009

Thanks to an excellent team result, BMW successfully fought back after a difficult start to the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the “Autódromo Miguel E. Abed” in Puebla (MX), BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus (BR) set a best time of 1:37.682 minutes in the second part of qualifying, and secured pole position for the third race of the season. BMW Team UK driver Andy Priaulx (GB) was just 0.045 seconds slower than his fellow BMW driver, claiming second and making it an all BMW front row in Puebla.

Five BMW drivers made it into the top-ten at the 3.240-kilometre track. Farfus’ team-mate, Jörg Müller (DE) came seventh. BMW privateer Félix Porteiro (ES) finished eighth for Proteam Motorsport. BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Sergio Hernández (ES) managed to make it into “Q2” for the first time this year, finishing tenth, while only his team-mate, Alessandro Zanardi (IT)l failed to make the cut and had to make do with 12th on tomorrow’s grid.

“Following the difficult races in Brazil we couldn’t expect this result,” Farfus commented after claiming the seventh pole position of his WTCC career. “But we worked hard and were absolutely determined to score some points here in Puebla. This mission will hopefully be easier now I am starting from pole. Of course I will also try to keep the lead throughout the race, although this won’t be easy. It’s great to have another BMW driver in Andy Priaulx beside me on the front row. A big thank you to the whole team.”

As early as in the first part of qualifying Farfus proved just how talented he was. One run was enough for him to set a 1:37.981-minute lap – the fastest time of the weekend up to then – and to take the lead. Along with Priaulx, Müller, Hernández and Porteiro advanced easily into the second qualifying session. All the BMW drivers apart from Hernández were able to improve on their lap times in “Q2”. While Farfus completed his pole position lap at the start of the session, Priaulx went out halfway through the 10-minutes, only missing out on beating Farfus’ lap time by fractions of a second.

“We needed this result,” said Priaulx. “The season opener in Curitiba was a big disappointment for us. Therefore it’s great to start from the front row here. The grip level is much higher than in previous years, which suits our cars. In fact, we were more than three seconds faster than in last year’s qualifying.”

Now the BMW national teams are in a promising position to improve on their previous results in Puebla. Last year Priaulx was the only BMW driver who managed to score a championship point on the slowest circuit on the calendar. The third race of the FIA World Touring Car Championship will start on 12:20hrs local time (18:20hrs GMT) on Sunday, race two will get underway at 15:50hrs (21:50hrs GMT).

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