FeedMeSportscars

The racing was tight on this twisty track

Race 1
FARFUS AND BMW GIVE GERMANY CAUSE FOR CHEER The stage was set for a dramatic race with Robert Huff in the Chevrolet on pole, and Gabriele Tarquini, a title contender next to him in the SEAT Sport Tdi.

From the rolling start Tarquini took the lead over the line, but then things began to unfold. Augusto Farfus took his BMW Team Germany car up the outside of the pack and stayed out of trouble. He took the lead out of the first corner and stayed there for the rest of the race, only strengthening his lead away from the field.

Tarquini and Huff followed him round the corner, but Nicola Larini, who was squeezed by Jordi Gene and Rickard Rydell, spun and hit his team mate as he went out at turn 2. That ended Larini's race, but Huff recovered and chased after Tarquini. Further back Alessandro Zanardi was pushed into a spin and Andy Priaulx took to the grass.

After everything had calmed down, Farfus was left out in front with the others fighting for second place. Tarquini was beginning to struggle and first Huff pulled off a move up the inside, followed quickly by Alain Menu to take the last podium position. Even though Tarquini fought to save the position he was unable to and began to fall back down the field.

Tiago Monteiro took fourth position, followed by team mates Gene and Rydell into fifth and sixth places respectively. Tarquini then clashed with Andy Priaulx as the British driver attempted to overtake him for seventh. The collision ended with Priaulx going backwards into the tyre wall and out of the race. Tarquini ended up falling back to twenty-third position overall.

Other drivers who experienced troubles were Jorg Muller and Yvan Muller who both fell back down the field. Tom Coronel finished in seventh position following his relegation to ninth after qualifying. This means that he will start on the front row in the second race alongside Felix Porteiro who won the pole on the reverse grid.

Pierre-Yves Corthals had looked on course for the win of the Independents' race, but he had an incident near the end of the race and left the win to Stefano D'Aste.

Other incidents on the track were between the N-technology Honda car of James Thompson and Wiechers-Sport's Olivier Tielemans who tangled, with the British driver going off onto the grass. As he was recovering he almost hit Duncan Huisman, Tielemans' team mate, who was also forced to take to the grass.

Both the Tarquini-Priaulx and Tielemans-Thompson collisions are currently being investigated by the Stewards.
The Results

Race 2
BMW Italy-Spain driver Felix Porteiro managed to lead the race from pole to an impressive win in the second race at Oschersleben (the first for him so far this season), holding off a charge from behind. He escaped all the drama at the first corner after having a brilliant start, and led from

SEAT away from the chaos.

It seemed to be that everyone piled into one another into the first corner, leaving Tiago Monteiro and James Tomspon out of the race almost immediately. Augusto Farfus had an excellent start from eighth on the grid, but he was pushed wide at the first corner and had to chase after the leaders. Other drivers involved in first lap incidents were Alessandro Zanardi, Ibrahim Okyay, Rickard Rydell and Olivier Tielemans. One to benefit was independent Sergio Hernandez who ended up in fourth position by the end of the first lap. Stefano D'Aste also took advantage of the chaos and cut through the corner to rejoin the race inside the top ten. Hernandez did not stay in fourth place, but even after being overtaken by the faster cars he ended the race in seventh position.

Coronel finished the race in second place, having bravely resisted pressure from Robert Huff, and even chased Porteiro for the win. He drove a fantastic race, on a circuit where he has historically always found success. Huff came up from seventh position on the reversed grid to take the final podium spot, but he had to overtake an extremely stubborn Jordi Gene, and defend his position from an advancing Farfus. Gene drove an excellent and brave race as he fought off car after car to defend his position. Huff may have overtaken him, but Farfus, and later Andy Priaulx were not able to get by. He kept Farfus at bay for lap after lap; only for the Brazilian to be caught by surprise by Priaulx who overtook him. Following this move the British driver hounded Gene, but the Spaniard kept his ground to score a great fourth position.

Priaulx took fifth, with Farfus behind him in sixth. Hernandez took seventh, and the win of the Independents' race.

Yvan Muller finished in eighth position scoring one precious point for the title fight. He had been fourth for a few laps, but he could not find the pace and slipped back down the field.

The fight for the World Champion's crown is now closer than ever. Muller has a two-point lead over team-mate Gabriele Tarquini, while Priaulx is lying third with a 13-point gap. With 80 points still at stake there are ten drivers who still have realistic chance to have a shot at the title, all the way down to Menu who is 26 points behind. The championship will resume for rounds 17 and 18 at Imola, Italy, on September 21st.
The Results