WTCC - Rounds 7 & 8 - Oschersleben - Race

2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)
Rounds 7 and 8 - 03rd/04th June 2006 - Race

Andy Priaulx and Jörg Müller win for BMW at Oschersleben home event.

Oschersleben (Germany), 04th June 2006. Andy Priaulx (GBR) and Jörg Müller
(GER) have won rounds seven and eight of the FIA World Touring Car Championship
(WTCC). At the BMW home event at the "Motorsport Arena Oschersleben", Priaulx
and his BMW Team UK celebrated victory in the first race in front of 34 000
spectators. The 31-year-old relegated BMW Team Germany's Dirk Müller (GER) and
SEAT driver Rickard Rydell (SWE) to second and third place, respectively. Jörg
Müller, who is also driving for BMW Team Germany, benefited from the reversed
grid in the second race of the day and claimed his first win of the season
after starting from second. He was joined on the podium by Augusto Farfus (BRA)
and third-placed Dirk Müller, who was the most successful driver of the weekend.

Priaulx made perfect use of his pole position in race one, committed no
mistakes and scored a start to finish victory. However, he came under pressure
on the last laps. At the start, Dirk Müller improved from sixth to fourth place
and was moving up over the course of the 14-lap sprint race. First, he overtook
Rydell, and on lap eight he also passed Rydell's SEAT team-mate, James Thompson
(GBR). Then he started chasing Priaulx. But the 30-year-old did not get a
chance to launch an attack. Therefore, the reigning World Champion Priaulx took
the chequered flag with a gap of 0.469 seconds to the runner-up.

Jörg Müller worked his way up from tenth to seventh place. He delivered an
exciting duel with Farfus for sixth position, but failed to overtake the Alfa
Romeo driver on the narrow track. Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) of BMW Team
Italy-Spain, who celebrated victory in Oschersleben last year, was involved in
a lot of race action: The 39-year-old fought with Yvan Muller (FRA) for eighth
place - and pole position for race two. However, during an overtaking move on
lap 12 the two cars collided, Zanardi was forced into the gravel and then to
pit to have his tyres changed. Finally he finished 24th. His team-mate Marcel
Costa (ESP) improved from 23rd to 18th position.

In the second race, Jörg Müller laid the foundation for his victory right at
the start, when he passed SEAT's Peter Terting (GER) for the lead. During the
first laps, he was under pressure from Farfus, but succeeded in building up a
gap by mid race, thus securing his fourth WTCC win. Behind him, his team-mate
Dirk Müller caused a stir. As the red lights went off, he leapfrogged from
seventh to third place and even attacked Farfus, after the South American had
lost ground to Jörg Müller. At the end of the day, Dirk could not pass him but
gained some ground in the championship fight by coming third.

Priaulx missed a gear directly after the start, fell back from eight to tenth
position and remained there until the end of the race. Further back in the
field, Zanardi was ploughing through the field after the incident in race one.
The fans' favourite finished 12th, after starting from 24th. Costa took 16th
position.

After this double-victory in Oschersleben, BMW has now 103 points under its
belt and thus regained first place in the Manufacturers' Championship from
SEAT. Priaulx is the new leader of the Drivers' Standings, having 33 points to
his tally after eight WTCC rounds. For him, it was already the third win of the
season.
Reactions:

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
"I am leading the championship again. However, that doesn't mean anything at
this point of the season. It's extremely close out there - and it will stay
like this right until the end. I'm convinced that the championship will again
be decided at the final event at Macau. In the first race, I pushed hard to
build up a gap as fast as possible, as it's always better to dictate the pace
from the lead. I succeeded. In race two I missed the gear and lost two
positions as well as a championship point."

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
"In Magny-Cours, I came second twice. Now it has finally worked out with my
first win this season. Between the two races we changed the set-up of my car.
It felt much better in race two. At the beginning, Augusto Farfus put me under
pressure, but then I was able to move away a bit. Then it was all about not
making any mistakes. That's what I did, and now I'm happy with the result. I'm
sure that the balance of power will continue to change from race to race."

Dirk Müller (BMW Team Germany):
"I just feel great. In the championship I'm now only one point behind the
leaders. The car was just brilliant today. In race one, I managed to close the
gap to Andy within just a few laps. Unfortunately, I was unable to launch an
attack. The key to success in race two was my perfect start. I started from
seventh place - and was suddenly in the middle of a fight with Augusto Farfus
for second place. That was exciting and was good fun. I can really be happy
with this weekend."

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
"This was not really my weekend. After I had already been unlucky in
qualifying, I was forced to give my all to gain eighth place in race one. Then
I would have started from pole in race two due to the reversed grid.
Unfortunately, this plan didn't pay off. Nevertheless, I think that I have
shown what would have been possible today. That's why I'm really disappointed
with leaving Oschersleben empty-handed."

Stats and results Oschersleben:
Circuit / Date Motorsport Arena Oschersleben / 04th June 2006
Lap / Race distance 3.67 km / 51.38 km (14 laps)
Pole position 2006
Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK), 1:35.661 minutes
Winners 2006
Race 1: Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK)
Race 2: Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany)
Fastest lap 2006
Race 1: Rickard Rydell, 1:34.048 minutes
Race 2: Augusto Farfus jr, 1:33.749 minutes

Manufacturers' Championship:
1st BMW (103 points), 2nd SEAT (100), 3rd Chevrolet (55), 4th Alfa Romeo (54).

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).