WTCC - ROUNDS 1 AND 2 - MONZA - RACE

2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)
Rounds 1 and 2 - 01st/02nd April 2006 - Race

Priaulx wins a round of the WTCC season opener in the BMW 320si.

Monza (Italy), 02nd April 2006. BMW Team UK driver Andy Priaulx (GBR) has won
the inaugural round of the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the
"Autodromo Nazionale di Monza", the reigning World Champion prevailed against
SEAT drivers Yvan Muller (FRA) and James Thompson (GBR), thus securing a win
for the new BMW 320si WTCC in its maiden race. The second race of the season,
however, was disappointing for the BMW national teams. Following several
accidents, none of the five drivers made it to the chequered flag.

In sunny conditions, with temperatures around 18°C, Priaulx made a great start
to race one. The pole-sitter controlled the field and defended his lead until
the chequered flag. In the early stages of the race, it looked as if BMW Team
Germany's Dirk Müller (GER) might make for a BMW one-two. At the start, the
30-year old quickly gained two positions to move up to second. However,
following a safety-car period (second to fourth lap), his tyres lost grip and
he had to let Muller and Thompson pass and consequently finished fourth.

BMW Team Italy-Spain's Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) finished seventh, thus scoring
two points and securing a promising starting position for the second round:
second grid position. Zanardi's team-mate, Marcel Costa (ESP), took eleventh
place in his maiden WTCC race, while Jörg Müller (GER) was hit by bad luck:
Following a collision with Rickard Rydell (SWE) he had to pit to have his car
repaired by the BMW Team Germany pit crew. Subsequently, he re-joined the race
but had to settle for 28th place.

The second round also started in promising style for the BMW drivers. Zanardi
defended his second place, with both Dirk Müller and Priaulx gaining positions
and Jörg Müller beginning his chase from the back of the grid. However, none of
the BMW drivers was rewarded for their effort. On lap three, Priaulx tried to
pass Thompson who moved to Priaulx' side to defend his position. This move
caused the World Champion to spin into the path of his brand-mate Dirk Müller.
Both lost control and hit the crash barriers. Two laps later, Costa was also
forced into early retirement from his eighth position, following a collision
with SEAT driver Peter Terting (GER). On lap six, Jörg Müller, who had worked
his way up to eleventh position, collided with Stefano d'Aste (ITA), resulting
in the sudden end to the 36-year old German's race.

Now, all the BMW hopes rested on Zanardi who was involved a thrilling battle
with the leader, Augusto Farfus jr (BRA). On the penultimate lap, Zanardi tried
to pass the Brazilian, but Farfus defended his lead and the two cars made
contact, resulting in a damaged suspension on Zanardi's car while Farfus
crossed the line as the race winner. The BMW national teams will have to work
hard to rebuild their cars in time for the third and fourth rounds of the
season, which will be held on 30th April 2006 at Magny-Cours, France.

Reactions:
Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
"I'm leaving the venue of the season opener with mixed emotions. On the one
hand, I'm delighted to have won race one. We have completed a successful
preparation and the team really deserved this success. Yet, to have the chance
of battling for the championship you have to score points constantly.
Therefore, I'm rather annoyed about my retirement in round two. It was a kind
of chain reaction. At the end of the day, Dirk and I were just passengers. The
car is seriously damaged and I hope that it won't be necessary to build up a
new chassis for Magny-Cours."

Dirk Müller (BMW Team Germany):
"This has been the worst crash in my career so far. To be honest, I didn't
really notice what was going on. All of a sudden, I went off together with
Andy. There were a lot of hard battles going on today, with some of the drivers
battling too hard. Therefore, I had to settle for five points. But there is
still a long season to be contested, and the BMW 320si has got a lot of
potential."

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
"What can I say? No racing driver voluntarily settles for the runner-up
position. If you've got the chance to win you just have to go for it.
Unfortunately it didn't pay off today and now I'm standing here empty-handed.
But the performance we've delivered this weekend is encouraging for the rest of
the season."

Stats and results Monza:
Circuit / Date
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza / 2nd April 2006
Lap / Race distance
5.770 km / 51.93 km (9 laps)
Pole position 2006
Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK), 2:00.254 minutes
Winners 2006
Race 1: Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK)
Race 2: Augusto Farfus jr (Alfa Romeo)
Fastest lap 2006
Race 1: Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT), 2:02.176 minutes
Race 2: James Thompson (SEAT), 2:02.337 minutes

Manufacturers' Championship:
1st SEAT (26 points), 2nd Alfa Romeo (22), 3rd BMW (18), 4th Chevrolet (12).

Race Calendar:
2nd April - Monza (ITA), 30th April - Magny-Cours (FRA), 21st May - Brands
Hatch (GBR), 4th June - Oschersleben (GER), 2nd July - Curitiba (BRA), 30th
July - Puebla (MEX), 3rd September - Brno (CZE), 24th September - Istanbul
(TUR), 8th October - Valencia (ESP), 19th November - Macau (CHN).