ETCC, Barcelona 2: Muller vs Muller

The reverse of the top eight point scorers from race one meant that Tom Coronel (Carly BMW 320I) started from pole position, but he was swamped by the Schnizter BMWs of Dirk and Jorg Muller on the long drag to turn one, with Andy Priaulx (RBM BMW) and Fabrizio Giovanardi (Ravaglia BMW) further demoting Coronel on the opening lap. Further back, race one winner Gabriele Tarquini (Alfa Romeo) was making smart progress through the midfield, while his team-mate Nicola Larini also flew the Alfa flag in fifth.

Larini got past Giovanardi for fourth on lap three, but as in race one, the Alfa faded in the closing stages. Larini fell prey to both Giovanardi and Tarquini in the closing stages, with Tarquini also getting the better of Giovanardi for fourth place.

Despite making a few mistakes in the latter stages, Dirk held on to beat Jorg by 0.228s in the battle of the Mullers. Priaulx put Jorg under massive pressure throughout the race, but had to settle for third - just 0.436s behind the race winner. Tarquini took fourth, enough to give him the championship lead by a point over D Muller, ahead of Giovanardi and Larini.


1 Dirk Muller, Schnitzer BMW 320I, 11 laps
2 Jorg Muller, Schnitzer BMW 320I, +0.228s
3 Andy Priaulx, RBM BMW 320I, +0.436s
4 Gabriele Tarquini, Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156, +9.567s
5 Fabrizio Giovanardi, Ravaglia BMW 320I, +10.566s
6 Nicola Larini, Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156, +11.012s