WTCC - ROUNDS 15 & 16 - ISTANBUL - QUALIFYING

2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)
Rounds 15 and 16 - 23rd/24th September 2006 - Qualifying
BMW driver Alessandro Zanardi takes second grid position in Istanbul.

Istanbul (Turkey), 23rd September 2006. In the qualifying session for the 15th
round of the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship, Alessandro Zanardi (ITA)
of BMW Team Italy-Spain claimed second position. Posting a personal best time
of 2:06.427 minutes, he was just 0.138 seconds slower than SEAT driver Rickard
Rydell (SWE), who took pole position. Rydell's brand-mate Gabriele Tarquini
(ITA) finished third. After only ten minutes of the 30-minute session, it
started raining at the "Istanbul Speed Park" which made it impossible for the
drivers to improve on their lap times.

Zanardi had already delivered convincing performances in the two free practice
sessions of the day, setting the fastest lap time in each practice. "The car
has been working extremely well since the very first outing here," said the
former Formula One driver after qualifying. "This track is similar to Brno in a
couple of ways. And there we were able to compete at the top of the field.
Therefore, I was hoping that we would also be competitive in Istanbul.
Apparently, this is the case. Maybe I would have had the chance to make life a
little bit more difficult for Rickard if the rain had not started.
Nevertheless, I'm really happy to start from second row tomorrow." After his
third grid position in Brno three weeks ago, this is the most successful
qualifying of Zanardi's WTCC career to date.

The second-fastest driver of the BMW national teams was BMW Team Italy-Spain's
Duncan Huisman (NLD). The 34-year-old set a personal best time of 2:06.806
minutes, which saw him take fifth place on the grid - his best qualifying
result this season. Dirk Müller (GER) of BMW Team Germany also made it into the
top ten: Carrying 55 kilograms of handicap weight aboard his BMW 320si WTCC,
the BMW works driver secured eighth place. His team-mate Jörg Müller (GER), who
is currently ranked fourth in the championship, finished 12th. Due to an engine
change on Peter Terting's (GER) car and a ten-place grid penalty for the SEAT
driver, the 37-year-old will start the first race on Sunday from 11th position.

Championship leader Andy Priaulx (GBR) of BMW Team UK also moves up one place
thanks to Terting's penalty, and will line up on 14th grid position for race
one. The reigning touring car champion is the only driver in the field carrying
the maximum ballast of 80 kilograms in Istanbul.

With temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius and increasing rainfalls, the
drivers took the opportunity in qualifying to work on their cars' set-up in wet
conditions. This might prove useful tomorrow, as the weather experts also
forecast rain showers for Sunday's WTCC rounds 15 and 16. The first race in
Istanbul will start tomorrow at 15:10hrs local time (13:10hrs BST). The red
lights go out for race two at 16:20hrs (14:20hrs BST). EUROSPORT will broadcast
both WTCC races at the 5.333-kilometre track live.

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).