WTCC - Rounds 11 and 12 - Spa-Francorchamps - Race

Clean sweep for BMW in Spa-Francorchamps - exciting second race.

Spa (Belgium), 30th July 2005. BMW has claimed a one-two-three victory in the
eleventh race of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). Dirk Müller
(GER) of BMW Team Deutschland celebrated his third win of the season at the
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, while BMW Team UK driver Andy Priaulx (GBR)
finished as runner-up. On the start/finish straight Jörg Müller (GER), also
competing for BMW Team Deutschland, drew level with Alfa-Romeo driver Augusto
Farfus jr. and pipped him to the post as he crossed the line in third place
with a lead of just 22 thousandths of a second. All three podium places thus
went to BMW drivers.

During the interval between the two races, a rain shower suddenly altered the
track conditions. The 6.946-kilometre circuit was drying off during the second
race and in these difficult circumstances numerous collisions and skids
occurred. BMW Independents Trophy driver Stefano d'Aste (ITA) crossed the
finish line to take what looked like a sensational win. After the race,
however, he received a three-second penalty for taking a short-cut in a
chicane. That meant Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo) was retrospectively
declared the winner. The best driver among the BMW national teams was again
Dirk Müller, who finished in fifth place.

Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) of BMW Team Italy-Spain was not competing following an
accident on Thursday in which his BMW 320i was badly damaged. His team-mate
Antonio Garcia (ESP) came seventh in the first race. On the last lap of the
second race he dropped back from third to eighth position due to a multi-car
collision.

In the Drivers' Championship, Dirk Müller maintains his lead with a tally of 61
points. A gap of four points separates him from his rival Giovanardi. Behind
them Priaulx is in third place with 50 points. In the Manufacturers'
Championship, these results enabled BMW to further expand its lead slightly
over Alfa Romeo. It tops the rankings with 159 points. Second-placed Alfa (155)
is followed by SEAT (113) in third place. BMW privateer Marc Hennerici (Mayen)
continues to lead the Independents Trophy after the Belgian event. Tom Coronel
(SEAT) is in second place with eight points.

Reactions:

Dirk Müller (BMW Team Deutschland): "Today was a very happy day for me. In the
first race I had a fantastic start and fought an exciting duel with Andy. But
ultimately I had the edge on him. You could right a book about the second race.
Suddenly, on the very first lap, I was facing the oncoming traffic in Eau
Rouge. It was a miracle nobody hit me. After that I wouldn't have expected to
finish so far up. I'm glad I was able to increase my World Championship lead."

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK): "After yesterday's qualifying I was fairly
optimistic about today's races, but unfortunately there weren't as many points
in it as I had hoped for. I felt in the first race that I was faster than Dirk
at the end, but I couldn't get past him. In the second race I was unlucky. In
2004 things mostly went well for me, now I'm in trouble more often. But the
race for the title is still completely open."

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Deutschland): "It was certainly a good weekend for the
fans. I'm not happy with my performance. My car was good enough to compete for
a win in both races, but nothing came of it. The duel with Farfus at the end of
the first race was fun. He was hustling me, but in the end my front wheels
clearly had more grip than his."

Race 1

Weather
Cloudy, 19 degrees Celsius

Start
Andy Priaulx gets off to a textbook start, leaving Augusto Farfus jr. in his
wake to take the lead. The two BMW Team Deutschland drivers swap places: Dirk
Müller is now in third place and Jörg Müller in fourth. 25-year-old Antonio
Garcia makes a big leap forward, advancing from 13th to ninth place.

Lap 1
Jörg Müller sacrifices a place to Gabriele Tarquini. After a collision Michael
Funke rolls his car, but fortunately emerges from it unhurt. The safety car is
brought on while Funke's car is taken away.

Lap 3
The safety car leaves the track and the race opens up again. Dirk Müller and
Jörg Müller simultaneously launch an attack on the Alfa drivers in front of
them - and both succeed in getting past. But Tarquini counterattacks and wrests
fourth place back from Jörg Müller.

Lap 4
Garcia. meanwhile, has fought his way up into seventh place.

Lap 5
Dirk Müller attacks Priaulx and manages to pass his fellow BMW driver. That
puts the World Championship leader at the head of the field. Jörg Müller turns
the heat up on Tarquini once more and sweeps past the Italian to slot into
fourth place.

Lap 6
Tarquini nudges Jörg Müller during a passing manoeuvre, but the BMW driver
shows great skill in keeping his car under control and defending his fourth
place. Garcia fends off the significantly lighter SEAT of Jason Plato behind
him.

Lap 8
Priaulx is snapping at Dirk Müller's heels but fails to get past the
29-year-old. Jörg Müller, on the other hand, risks a final attack on Farfus on
the finishing straight and secures third place with a lead of 22 thousandths of
a second.

Finish
Dirk Müller wins the eleventh WTCC race of the year. Behind him, Priaulx and
Jörg Müller secure a clean sweep for BMW. Garcia finishes seventh. No sooner
has the race ended than the first drops of rain start to fall.

Race 2

Weather
Rain at the start, later dry - 18 degrees Celsius

Start
The race kicks off in wet conditions, although the rain has stopped and many
parts of the circuit are drying. It leaves Priaulx as the only driver in the
BMW national teams to start with wet tyres. The first few moments of the second
race are turbulent. Dirk Müller is touched by Farfus and spins in Eau Rouge.
Priaulx is also involved and leaves the track, sustaining damage to his car.
Jörg Müller benefits from the situation and moves up from sixth to third place.
Garcia loses a place to Tarquini.

Lap 1
Priaulx limps back to the pits and abandons the race shortly afterwards. A slow
puncture also puts Jörg Müller to the back of the field. He returns to the pits
for a tyre replacement.

Lap 2
Garcia passes Tarquini and is back in second place. Dirk Müller launches into a
fast and furious catching-up exercise.

Lap 4
Dirk Müller improves his position bit by bit and is now already in fourth
place. Jörg Müller is also carving his way through the field and is 16th.

Lap 5
After a collision involving Thomas Klenke and Jordi Gené, the safety car is
brought on as in the first race. It takes a long time to clear the track of the
debris from both cars.

Lap 8
The race restarts, but only for one lap. In the Bus Stop chicane just metres
before the finish, Garcia, Tarquini and Dirk Müller are involved in a
collision. Race leader Giovanardi is also affected. Private driver Stefano
d'Aste avoids the melee by going across the grass.

Finish
D'Aste crosses the finish line ahead of Giovanardi and Tom Coronel. After
spinning, Dirk Müller manages to get across the line to salvage fifth place.
Garcia takes away a World Championship point as eighth-placed finisher, while
Jörg Müller is 16th to cross the line. Later d'Aste is given a time penalty and
Giovanardi is declared the winner.

Results

BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport
No. 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) Grid: 3rd - Races: 3rd and 16th
No. 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) Grid: 4th - Races: 1st and 5th

BMW Team UK - RBM
No. 1 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) Grid: 2nd - Races: 2nd and DNF

BMW Team Italy-Spain - ROAL Motorsport
No. 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) did not start
No. 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) Grid: 13th - Races: 7th and 8th

BMW private teams

Crawford Racing - No. 28 - Carl Rosenblad (SWE) Races: 23rd and 12th

Proteam Motorsport - No. 30 - Stefano d'Aste (ITA) Races: 17th and 2nd
- No. 31 - Giuseppe Ciro (ITA) Races: 16th and 15th

Wiechers-Sport - No. 32 - Marc Hennerici (GER) Races: 19th and 9th

IEP Team - No. 33 - Adam Lacko (CZE) Races: 21st and 13th

Results Race 1:
1. Dirk Müller (GER, BMW 320i) 22:58.706 minutes, 2. Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW
320i) +0.270 seconds, 3. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i) +5.448, 4. Augusto Farfus
jr. (BRA/Alfa Romeo) +5.470, 5. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) +5.712, 6.
James Thompson (GBR, Alfa Romeo) +5.859, 7. Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i)
+10.694, 8. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) +11.297 Farfus was
subsequently disqualified for his move against Jörg Müller at the end of the
race

Results Race 2:
1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 27:49.760 minutes, 2. Stefano d'Aste
(ITA/BMW 320i) +0.003 seconds, 3. Tom Coronel (NLD/SEAT) +1.,371, 4. Augusto
Farfus jr. (BRA/Alfa Romeo) +1.923, 5. Dirk Müller (GER, BMW 320i) +4,050, 6.
Alain Menu (SUI/Chevrolet) +7,619, 7. James Thompson (GBR, Alfa Romeo) +9,807,
8. Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) +10,069, ?16. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i)
43,977, DNF: Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i)

Drivers' standings after 12 out of 20 races:
1. Dirk Müller 61 Punkte, 2. Fabrizio Giovanardi 57, 3. Andy Priaulx 50, 4.
Gabriele Tarquini 43, 5. Antonio Garcia 43, 6. James Thompson 38, 7. Augusto
Farfus jr. 34, 8. Rickard Rydell 33, 9. Jörg Müller 33, 10. Peter Terting 17,?
15. Alessandro Zanardi 6

Manufacturers' standings after 12 out of 20 races:
1. BMW 159 Punkte, 2. Alfa Romeo 155, 3. SEAT 113, 4. Chevrolet 39, 5. Ford 2