The Castrol-backed BMW teams enjoyed a magnificent World Touring Car Championship weekend at the Okayama circuit in Japan, where their drivers secured first and second-placed finishes in both races.
Three-time world champion Andy Priaulx scored his second victory of the season in difficult conditions in a wet first race, holding off a late charge from fellow BMW driver Jörg Müller in the closing laps.
BMW rules roost at wet Japan
Priaulx then completed his best weekend of the season so far with second place behind Farfus in race two, to ensure that BMW achieved a clean sweep of the top places in both races.
Mastering the tough conditions
Priaulx had started on the front row for the first race and jumped at the chance to take the lead when SEAT’s Gabriele Tarquini slid off the track at the very wet Turn 2. The Briton didn’t put a foot wrong though, and held a comfortable lead over BMW stable mate Jörg Müller for much of the race.
BMW Rules The Roost
Farfus had made the same mistake as Tarquini on the first lap, running wide at Turn 2 and dropping down to 14th. But the Brazilian recovered well and charged back to eighth place to earn pole position for race two.
With the circuit even wetter and more difficult for race two, Farfus made a good start and led comfortably. Müller made an even better start from seventh and was challenging Tiago Monteiro for second when the SEAT driver squeezed him onto the grass and triggered a first corner accident.
Priaulx, who started eighth, managed to climb up to second in the chaos, and tracked Farfus all the way to the finish. SEAT’s Yvan Muller finished third and closed the gap to championship leader Tarquini to just two points. Farfus is still in touch 13 points behind the leader.
The Castrol BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers had a tough weekend, with Sergio Hernandez crashing out of the first race and finishing 12th in the second, and Alex Zanardi finishing 15th and 18th.
The next race is at the Circuito da Guia in Macau on November 22.
Race 1 result:
1 Andy Priaulx (BMW)
2 Jorg Muller (BMW)
3 Rob Huff (Chevrolet)
4 Yvan Muller(SEAT)
5 Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT)
6 Jordi Gene (SEAT).
Race 2 result:
1 Augusto Farfus (BMW)
2 Andy Priaulx (BMW)
3 Yvan Muller (SEAT)
4 Alain Menu (Chevrolet)
5 Nicola Larini (Chevrolet)
6 Robert Huff (Chevrolet)
Team News: Japanese wins set up showdown
BMW’s sensational weekend in Japan means that the German manufacturer heads into the season finale in Macau with a chance of winning both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.
Augusto Farfus’s victory in race two at Okayama left him 13 points behind championship leader Gabriele Tarquini, with 20 still to be scored in Macau. Meanwhile, the two 1-2 finishes scored by the Castrol-backed BMW teams in Japan helped them to close the gap to SEAT in the manufacturers’ title chase to just three points.
While Farfus might need some fortune to favour him at the finale, BMW’s history of strong form at Macau means its teams and drivers will go into the last weekend of the year confident that they can clinch the silverware.
WTCC News: Zanardi wins handbike race
Not content with the WTCC victory he scored at Brno earlier this season, Castrol-backed BMW racer Alex Zanardi claimed a “handbike” victory in the Venice Marathon last Sunday, before heading out to Japan for the races at Okayama.
Zanardi set a new record of 1h13m56s for the 42km course in the charity event. The success was the Italian’s first ever win in handbike racing.
“It was a great day for the cyclist who is in me,” said Zanardi. “I am extremely proud of this victory. First of all because we made good things for charities, and also because I set a new record for this race.”
Did you know: BMW has strong record on streets of Macau
BMW has won half of the World Touring Car Championship races held in Macau, the host of the final round of the championship on November 22.
Castrol BMW Team UK driver Andy Priaulx (pictured right) has won the race twice – and sealed all three of his world titles on the streets of Macau, while fellow BMW drivers Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller are also previous winners at the prestigious event.
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