ETCC - Spa - Rennen

2002 FIA European Touring Car Championship
Round 7 - 2/3 August, Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) - RACE

For the third consecutive round of the ETCC there has been a BMW winning at
least one of the races and also the marque has claimed several other podium
positions. In Spa-Franchorchamps it was the turn of Jörg Müller to win and
claim a second place, while both BMW Team Belgium and BMW Team Great Britain
had third places for Fredrik Ekblom and Tom Coronel respectively. BMW Team
Spain had a mixed weekend with Fabrizio De Simone not able to start the second
race due to a clutch failure, but Jordi Gené gave the team something to smile
about with a great drive from the back of the grid to fourth. BMW Team GB ran a
third car for just this weekend for local driver Pierre-Yves Corthals and his
efforts in race one put him on pole for race two.

For the second race running the top cars from the previous round are carrying
ballast, and this meant Dirk and Jörg Müller had the maximum amounts of 30 and
20 kilos respectively.
The car entered by BMW Team Netherlands for Peter Kox, which has run in the
first five rounds of the series, will no longer be entered in the championship.

BMW Team Germany - Schnitzer Motorsport - Charly Lamm: I am extremely happy as
Spa has a special place in the history of our team and to come away with these
results is great. I think the Championship was the winner today as we saw some
very exciting battles between Volvo, Alfa and BMW and new drivers scoring
points. The only down side for us was Dirk, who was involved in an accident,
which was not his fault, in the first race and the car was so badly damaged we
could not get him into the second race.

Jörg Müller (GER) - Qual -3rd - Race 1 - 2nd - Race 2 - 1st : Our
chassis was fantastic today and we carried a lot of speed through the fast
corners, so I believe this is where the others lost out to us. I am very happy.
It was nearly maximum points but Nicola was very good today. There was no
chance for me to overtake him in a dry race so I stayed in that position. I
made two good starts and I think that was the key to my results. I am really
enjoying racing in this series as it is the first year for me in these touring
cars - it is good fun.

Dirk Müller (GER) - Qual - 11th - Race 1 - DNF - Race 2 - DNS: I had a
fantastic start and after Eau Rouge I was fourth, which coming from 11th wasn't
so bad. I had Giovanardi behind me and then as I was braking he pushed me and
unfortunately I lost the car. I was in the gravel, came back on the circuit and
as I was coming back a Honda ran into me. The right rear suspension was hit
very hard and when I tried the car for the second race I realised it was just
too dangerous to race in that condition. It is a shame but congratulations to
Jörg.

BMW Team Belgium - RBM - Bart Mampaey: It was a very important race as it
was the home 'Grand Prix' for our team. I think Fredrik was in a position to
challenge for the lead, but Jörg was just in front of him and we didn't want a
repeat of what had happened in other races. The Alfa was also very quick, so
two laps from the end of race one Fredrik asked me what I thought he should
do. I told him to be cautious as it was so important for us to be on the
podium. On the second grid he asked me what to do and I said we had our podium
so now we must go for the win, but unfortunately the clutch went at the start.

Fredrik Ekblom (SWE) - Qual - 4th - Race 1 - 3rd - Race 2 - DNF: This was
an important race for our team and we looked very good after the first race. We
were a little bit careful as we wanted to have the points for third place and
then go a little bit harder in the second race. Unfortunately I lost the clutch
at the start and that was it. I had a really good car and I think I could have
challenged Jörg for the win in the second race.

BMW Team Great Britain - BMW Team Netherlands - Carly Motors/Team Isert - Carly
Pellinkhof: It is good for us when we have a driver in front and on the
podium. We had bad luck with Duncan with a broken wire, otherwise I think he
could also have been in the top six. For Pierre-Yves I think this was really
good, especially as he had a car that was not as up to date as the other cars
and we can see on the data he was driving well. It is a shame we didn't have
good luck with all the cars, but the feeling is we are competitive at the
moment.

Tom Coronel (NL) (Team GB) - Qual - 6th - Race 1 - 9th - Race 2 - 3rd : Race
one was a little bit of a mess in the first corner, I got hit from behind and
then I took off two of my opponents in the BMWs, but I had a very good start.
In race two I had another good start then there was another big mess in the
chicane, and I could hardly see where I was going with Alfas flying everywhere.
I was running fourth and trying to catch Rickard. I wanted to have a podium as
it is close to our Holland base and there were a lot of friends of Carly Motors
here. I just kept pushing and then saw the chequered flag. My car was good, the
team did a great job and I am delighted.

Pierre-Yves Corthals (BEL) - Qual - 10th - Race 1 - 6th - Race 2 - DNF: I
have to admit I made a bad start, but then in the first lap I passed four or
five cars and I didn't believe I could do this. After three corners I was
behind Rydell and I tried to do my best to follow him but it was difficult to
stay with him on the straights. I tried my hardest to do the race without any
mistakes. Then in the second I started from pole position and it was incredible
pressure for me. I made a good start and at the top of Raidillon I was first.
Then I was going into a corner, braked in the usual place but the front wheel
locked up and so I could not turn into the corner as I was going too fast. I
went on the grass, but when I came back onto the road Larini hit me in the rear
and I ended my race in the gravel.

Duncan Huisman (NL) (Team GB) - Qual - 21st - Race 1 - DNF - Race 2 - DNF
: In race one I was at the back and there was no space to get by so I had to
do something and I went on the grass. This was not allowed and I was penalised,
although I have seen this happen before without drivers being penalised.
However, it didn't help me at all as an electric wire broke to the fuel
injection. We changed lots of things but could not find this in the data. I
wanted to start the second race because I wanted to see what would happen in
the first lap. I came in after the first lap and soon afterwards Carly found
the problem. It was a shame as the car was great and the team did a good job.

BMW Team Spain - Ravaglia Motorsport - Roberto Ravaglia: Jordi had an accident
in the first race so we had to repair the car before race two and the mechanics
did a great job completing this in time. Then he made a great start and to come
fourth after starting last is a fantastic result for us. Unfortunately Fabrizio
didn't get very far in the first race due to a clutch problem and then was not
able to start race two.

Jordi Gené (ESP) - Qual - 8 th - Race 1 - DNF - Race 2 - 4th : For me race
two was fantastic. I made a great start and the car felt very good. I love this
circuit and really enjoyed the race. I was very disappointed to go out due to
an accident in the first race, but the mechanics from Ravaglia Motorsport
worked really well and gave me a great car for the second race for which I
would like to thank them.

Fabrizio De Simone (ITA) - Qual - 7th - Race 1 - DNF - Race 2 - DNS :
There is not much I can say as in the first race soon after the start I was
already sliding and had to pull off with a clutch problem. I went on the
pre-grid for the second race but knew it was not possible to complete the lap
so couldn't start.

Results:
Race 1 - 8 laps - 1. Nicola Larini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 20m 59.756s, 2. Jörg
Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 21m 00.028s, 3. Fredrik Ekblom (SWE/BMW 320i), 21m
00.377s, 4. Rickard Rydell (SWE/Volvo) 21m 14.697s, 5. Fabrizio Giovanardi
(ITA/Alfa Romeo) 21m 22.564s, 6. Pierre-Yves Corthals (BEL/BMW 320i) 21m
24.755s.
Race 2 - 8 laps - 1. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 20m 57.135s, 2. Rickard
Rydell (SWE/Volvo) 20m 59.512s, 3. Tom Coronel (HOL/BMW 320i) 21m 01.665s, 4.
Jordi Gené (ESP/BMW 3210i) 21m 13.427s, 5. Paolo Ruberti (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 21m
14.167s, 6. James Hanson (GB/Volvo ) 21m 24.485s.

Championships Positions:
Drivers: 1. Giovanardi 86, 2. Larini 76, 3. J Müller 61, 4. D Müller 53, 5.
Rydell 41, 6. Ekblom 13, 7. Gené 8, 8. Ruberti 7, 9. Hanson 6, 10. Coronel 5,
11. De Simone 4, 12. Vilamil 1, Kox 1, Ferrier 1, Corthals 1.
Manufacturers: 1. Alfa Romeo 164, 2. BMW. 128, 3. Volvo 48.