
News Archive »Augusto Farfus is the name that will be in the history books for winning the 100th WTCC race. The BMW Team Germany driver led the pack from lights to flag in a race that saw three serious crashes, two safety car periods and a suspension.
Yvan Muller, current world champion, finished second followed by his SEAT Sport team-mates Rickard Rydell, Jordi Gené and Tiago Monteiro.
After clean opening laps for the entire pack, lap three spelt the end of the race for Nicola Larini and Gabriele Tarquini. The duo was battling at turn five but neither would concede the line meaning they ended up in the tyres. Seconds later Mehdi Bennani went straight at the same corner, avoided the SEAT and Chevrolet but rejoined the track directly in the path of Tom Boardman who could do nothing to avoid him. With a second crash at the same place the safety car was deployed.
The third collision came further down the field on lap nine. Franz Engstler and Félix Porteiro hit each other but both continued. As Engstler picked up his pace again, Menu was on his tail and pushing to get past. The Swiss made contact, spun and crashed into the metal barrier blocking the track to cause the race to be suspended.
Man of the race
Sitting on pole for the 100th race after two catastrophic incidents in the previous two races must have been a tense moment for Augusto Farfus. However as the lights went out he stormed away with determination. The Brazilian had to endure two further restarts but remained focused to reward himself and his team with the ultimate prize of victory and maximum points.
Key moment
Yvan Muller overtook Nicola Larini at turn two on the first lap – a move that showcased his expertise. He was on the inside of the corner and while Larini edged over to take the line, Muller held strong using the wall on his left to resist Larini’s attempt to shut the door on him. This move enabled Muller to move up to second later in the race and take eight valuable points that could prove to be worth their weight in gold at the end of the season.
Withdrawals
J. Lagen: DNS; M. Bennani: race incident; T. Boardman: race incident; N. Larini: race incident; G. Tarquini: race incident; A. Menu: race incident; K. Ladygin: race incident.














