Müller fastest BMW driver in first WTCC qualifying of the season
Printed From: Bavarian-Board.co.uk - BMW Owners Discussion Forum
Category: General Forums
Forum Name: BMW Motorsport & Track Days Forum
Forum Discription: For anything related to Motorsport or Track Days (dates and advice). This is for all cars (not just M-Powered)!
URL: http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=44204
Printed Date: 01-May-2024 at 21:50
Topic: Müller fastest BMW driver in first WTCC qualifying of the season
Posted By: kbannon
Subject: Müller fastest BMW driver in first WTCC qualifying of the season
Date Posted: 10-March-2009 at 21:01
Müller fastest BMW driver in first WTCC qualifying of the season
03-07-2009 Press Release
Curitiba,
7th March 2009. BMW Team Germany’s Jörg Müller (DE) claimed sixth place
on the grid for the season opener of the 2009 FIA World Touring Car
Championship (WTCC) with a lap time of 1:24.637 minutes. The
39-year-old was the best-placed BMW national team driver in qualifying
at the “Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba”, finishing 0.441 seconds
behind pole-sitter Yvan Muller (FR, SEAT). His team-mate, Augusto
Farfus (BR), was seventh, while BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB) claimed
tenth on the grid for the first race on Sunday. Both BMW Team
Italy-Spain drivers, Sergio Hernández (ES) and Alessandro Zanardi (IT),
failed to get into the decisive top-ten shootout.
“Obviously we had hoped for a better start to the new season,” said
Friedhelm Nohl, General Manager Engineering, Sports and Touring Cars.
“By finishing sixth Jörg was our best-placed driver, less than half a
second behind the man on pole. With Augusto and Andy we have two more
drivers in the top-ten. Sergio narrowly missed the second session.
However, we still hope to be involved in the fight for podium positions
in Sunday’s races.”
As early as in the first part of qualifying, which was run to a new
format with two separate sessions, Müller was the quickest BMW driver
after finishing fifth. While the German booked his ticket for the
second part along with Priaulx and Farfus, Hernández and Zanardi were
eliminated thanks to being 11th and 14th. The 20-minute session was
red-flagged for five minutes after an accident involving BMW privateer
driver, Kristian Poulsen (DK), but ran without any further
interruptions.
Müller said: “My car was good today, and I managed to be the
fastest of all the drivers powered by a petrol engine. I am not really
convinced by the new qualifying format. We saw even fewer cars running
on the track than before, and there were a lot of tactics in play.
Tomorrow I will try to gain as many positions as possible.”
Unlike Müller, who set his lap time after six of the ten minutes in
“Q2”, Farfus and Priaulx waited until two minutes before the end of the
session before going out. “During the second session the track
conditions changed,” commented Farfus. “Therefore, the set-up of my car
was no longer at 100 percent. Now I will fight hard tomorrow to gain as
much ground as possible and to put on a good show for my home fans.”
Priaulx explained: “Our strategy didn’t quite pay off today. That’s
disappointing, as it had looked positive after my early runs. Due to s
problem with a brake calliper in the morning I lost one set of tyres.
Nevertheless, I will push hard to score two good results on Sunday.”
The first race of the World Touring Car Championship will start on
13:05hrs local time (16:05hrs GMT) tomorrow, race two will get underway
at 16:05hrs (19:05hrs GMT).
------------- Current: 2009 E60 520d "Sport" tractor Previous: 1989 E30 320i SE 1997 E39 523i 2003 E39 525i Sport Individual
|
Replies:
Posted By: kbannon
Date Posted: 10-March-2009 at 21:02
Farfus most successful BMW driver in Brazil – Müller launches fight back.
03-08-2009 Press Release
Curitiba,
8th March 2009. On the opening weekend of the 2009 FIA World Touring
Car Championship (WTCC), BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus (BR) was the
most successful member of the BMW national teams. In the first race of
the season the 25-year-old finished fifth in front of his home crowd in
Curitiba (BR). In race two, he added sixth place to his tally on a wet
track. His team-mate, Jörg Müller (DE), was the man of the second
round, in which the 39-year-old drove his BMW 320si WTCC from 21st on
the grid to finish fifth.
Sergio Hernández (ES) of BMW Team Italy-Spain and BMW Team UK’s
Andy Priaulx (GB) also scored championship points in the first race by
finishing sixth and seventh. However, SEAT dominated proceedings at the
“Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba” and celebrated two clean sweeps
by claiming the top four positions. The win in race one was secured by
Yvan Muller (FR), Gabriele Tarquini (IT) claimed victory in race two.
Müller’s hopes for a strong result in race one ended as early as
Turn 3. Running in fifth place he was hit by Chevrolet’s Alain Menu
(CH), who rejoined after cutting the chicane. Following this bump with
Menu, Müller collided with Priaulx and had to pit with a handling
problem. He went out again a few minutes later, but finished five laps
down on the winner. Priaulx dropped to 19th with a damaged right front
wheel, but fought his way back up to ninth.
Due to this incident, Farfus improved from seventh to fifth and
eventually finished sixth. The progress of Hernández was the best,
crossing the line in seventh after starting from 11th. His team-mate,
Alessandro Zanardi (IT), improved from 14th to 12th. All BMW national
team drivers benefited from a time penalty after the chequered flag for
two drivers who had finished in front of them, thus gaining two places
each. Priaulx was classified seventh, securing two points and a
front-row grid position for race two alongside BMW privateer Félix
Porteiro (ES) of Proteam Motorsport.
Thirty minutes before the start, a heavy thunderstorm hit the
3.685-kilometre circuit. The race therefore got underway ten minutes
late and was started behind the safety-car. In these conditions, the
BMW drivers running at the front were unable to defend their positions.
Only Farfus and Porteiro managed to translate their promising grid
positions into points. Müller, on the other hand, coped really well
with the conditions and launched an impressive fight back. From 21st
place he improved lap by lap, finally taking the chequered flag in
fifth.
------------- Current: 2009 E60 520d "Sport" tractor Previous: 1989 E30 320i SE 1997 E39 523i 2003 E39 525i Sport Individual
|
|