ETCC, Oschersleben: Alfa Mullered

The lighte, higher revving BMWs signalled their intent in qualifying, taking the top four positions on the grid for race one. At the start pole man Tom Coronel got bogged down allowing Fredrick Ekblom to lead into the first corner.

There was chaos in the chasing pack with James Hanson, Pablo Ruberti, Tom Ferrier and Salvatore Tavano colliding. Ferrier and Tavano were out in the spot, while Hanson managed to drag his Volvo back to the pits for repairs. Ruberti rejoined at the tail of the field.

Before the end of the first lap Dirk Muller put a move on Coronel to take second and started to close in on the leader. Jorg Muller and Rickard Rydell disputed fourth, swapping places in successive laps during the opening stages. Jorg finally managed to establish himself in the position and set about closing down on Coronel. However, on lap six he got too close and hit the back of the Carly Motorsport 320i, sending the Dutchman onto the grass.

Three laps later a similar incident occurred at the head of the field when Dirk Muller slammed into Ekblom's car after missing his braking point. The Swede's BMW sustained terminal suspension damage, leaving the German unchallenged in the lead. In the closing stages Jorg closed in on his namesake but the pair held station for a BMW one-two.

Rydell took the final podium spot for Volvo ahead of championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi, who came out on top of a race-long battle with Fabrizio de Simone and Nicola Larini, whose sixth pace finished gave him pole position for the second race.

An Alfa may have started from pole, but by the time the field had made it through the first corner, a BMW was once again leading after de Simone out-dragged Larini on the first lap of race two. Giovanardi's challenge was effectively ended when he was punted off at the first turn, while an exciting opening lap also saw Dirk Muller claim third spot from team-mate Jorg.

Larini held on to second until lap three when the irrepressible Dirk moved his 320i ahead of the Alfa. Two laps later Jorg tried to repeat the move, but an obdurate Larini held his line and nerve, but as the pair banged doors the opportunistic Rydell overtook the pair of them. Muller finally made the pressure tell and passed Larini near the end of lap five.

The German then set about chasing down Rydell with the same tenacity, finally barging his way past the S60 on lap nine. By this stage the pair had homed in on de Simone in second. Two laps later and Muller was ahead of the Italian, but he was too far behind Dirk to challenge his team-mate for the lead.

Rydell battled with de Simone and hit the BMW sending it spinning off the track and back to fifth place. Jordi Gene inherited fourth, with Larini taking the final point after a dramatic reversal of fortune for Alfa Romeo.

The result means that Giovanardi now leads the championship with 84 points, 18 ahead of Larini. Dirk Muller is a further 13 points adrift in the resurgent BMW.

Dirk Muller BMW 320i 22m26.688s
Jorg Muller BMW 320i +0.786s
Rickard Rydell Volvo S60 +3.826s
Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 Gta +6.240s
Fabrizio de Simone BMW 320i +12.293s
Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo +12.665s

Dirk Muller BMW 320i 22m24.079s
Jorg Muller BMW 320i +2.827s
Rickard Rydell Volvo S60 +6.448s
Jordi Gene BMW 320i +7.956s
Fabrizio de Simone BMW 320i +8.497s
Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo +8.946s