Brno 2: Giovanardi does it again

With the top six cars lining up in reverse finishing order from race one, Giovanardi had to work hard for this win. At the start the rear-wheel drive BMWs shot off the line and both Jorg and Dirk Muller swept past the polesitting Alfa of Luis Villamil into Turn One.

It was an opening lap full of incident and an error by Villamil dropped him out of contention, while further back in the pack there were cars taking to the grass at almost every corner. Giovanardi was in the thick of the action, impressively holding a huge slide as he banged door handles with the Volvo of James Hanson.

By lap two, order was restored, with the Mullers holding a small but comfortable lead from the Alfas of Nicola Larini and Giovanardi. Initially it looked as though Larini would do his utmost to keep his team-mate at bay, however, he was making no impression on the leading BMWs, and Giovanardi was in no mood for allowing a race win to slip away. A small mistake by Larini gave him the opportunity he required and once through he instantly started to home in on Dirk Muller in second.

At the head of the field Jorg Muller was working his tyres harder than the others and as the wear took its toll he started to hold up his team-mate. As he contrived to let Dirk through he unwittingly left the door open for Giovanardi and in one fell swoop he was back to third. Before the end of the race he lost a further place to Larini.

Dirk Muller tried his best to keep Giovanardi at bay, but despite his BMW having the legs of the Alfa through the twistier sections of the track, he could do nothing about the Italian car's superior power. When Giovanardi inevitably took the lead the German managed to stick to its tail, showing that although Alfa Romeo has now won six races out of six, its dominance may not hold for the rest of the season.

"It was a difficult race," admitted Giovanardi, who now has a massive championship lead. "I thought before the start that I had to pass the first two laps without incident. I think the BMWs did a great job - at the last race they didn't look that fast!"

Rickard Rydell produced a storming drive after his race one retirement, charging his way through the middle order and into the top six. Team-mate Hanson made it two Volvos in the points, coming home ahead of his more experienced team-mate in fifth.


Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 Gta
Dirk Muller BMW 320i E46
Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 Gta
Jorg Muller BMW 320i E46
James Hanson Volvo S60
Rickard Rydell Volvo S60