Muller Wins Round One in Monza
BMW's Dirk Muller has claimed a historic first win the new World Touring Car Championship, winning a dominant race from pole
Muller led from the front, edging away from the rest of the field, headed by Alfa Romeo's Gabriele Tarquini, lap by lap while looking untouchable all the way to the flag.
Behind the pair there was a frenetic battle for third, with Alfa's Augustus Farfus using every inch of the track to keep a hard charging Andy Priaulx behind him and off the podium, eventually crossing the line a mere one tenth of a second apart after nine laps.
Behind the pair Antonio Garcia, who started from second after teammate Jorg Muller was penalised for an infringement in qualifying, was having a drama filled start to his season, having damaged his car in the warm up session and giving his crew plenty to do to get the car onto the grid.
After losing a position to Tarquini at the start of the race Garcia was then tapped by Farfus on lap three, running wide but bringing his car back on track, albeit two places down the order.
Alfa drivers Fabrizio Giovanardi and James Thompson has a fierce fight with the SEAT's of Rickard Rydell and Jordi Gene, crossing the line just over a second apart to round out the points.
At the back of the pack, Jorg Muller had a torrid time of it, dropping down the pack with an evil looking car from eighteenth on the grid to last, losing a lap to teammate Dirk Muller in the process.
2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship, Monza - Race One Pos Driver Make Time Gap Laps 1. Dirk Muller BMW 320i 18:03.203 9 2. Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo 156 18:05.668 + 2.465 9 3. Augusto Farfus Jr. Alfa Romeo 156 18:07.057 + 3.854 9 4. Andy Priaulx BMW 320i 18:07.180 + 3.977 9 5. Antonio Garcia BMW 320i 18:11.291 + 8.088 9 6. Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo 156 18:11.451 + 8.248 9 7. James Thompson Alfa Romeo 156 18:12.113 + 8.910 9 8. Rickard Rydell SEAT Toledo Cupra 18:12.395 + 9.192 9 9. Jordi Gene SEAT Toledo Cupra 18:12.617 + 9.414 9 10. Alessandro Zanardi BMW 320i 18:18.046 + 14.843 9 11. Peter Terting SEAT Toledo Cupra 18:19.245 + 16.042 9 12. Roberto Colciago Honda Accord Euro 18:23.644 + 20.441 9 13. Marc Hennerici BMW 320i 18:25.022 + 21.819 9 14. Tomas Engstrom Honda Accord Euro 18:29.599 + 26.396 9 15. Tom Coronel Seat Toledo Cupra 18:29.774 + 26.571 9 16. Stefano D'aste BMW 320i 18:30.040 + 26.837 9 17. Salvatore Tavano Alfa Romeo 156 18:35.030 + 31.827 9 18. Alessandro Balzan SEAT Toledo Cupra 18:36.680 + 33.477 9 19. Andrea Larini Alfa Romeo 156 18:40.914 + 37.711 9 20. Robert Huff Chevrolet Lacetti 18:40.923 + 37.720 9 21. Andriano De Micheli Honda Accord Euro 18:47.117 + 43.914 9 22. Alain Menu Chevrolet Lacetti 18:47.574 + 44.371 9 23. Gianluca De Lorenzi BMW 320i 18:48.030 + 44.827 9 24. Nicola Larini Chevrolet Lacetti 18:48.970 + 45.767 9 25. Adam Lacko Alfa Romeo 156 Gta 18:52.844 + 49.641 9 26. Jens Hellstrom Honda Civic Type-R 19:01.199 + 57.996 9 27. Stefano Valli BMW 320i 19:01.566 + 58.363 9 28. Thomas Jager Ford Focus 19:08.443 +1:05.240 9 29. Jorg Muller BMW 320i 19:22.138 + 1 LAP 8 Not Classified Thomas Klenke Ford Focus 8:33.895 D.N.F. Valle Makela Seat Toledo Cupra 8:42.412 D.N.F. Giuseppe Ciro BMW 320i 0 D.N.F. Fastest Lap Dirk Muller BMW 320i 1:59.552
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