Porteiro takes maiden win in race 1
Felix Porteiro converted his maiden World Touring Car Championship pole position into his first tin-top win in the first race of the fifth round of the series at Brno
Porteiro held the lead off the line in his ROAL-run BMW 320si, although fellow front-row starter Andy Priaulx lost the lead of the championship after ending up in the gravel at Turn 1 after a clash involving the independent SEAT of Pierre-Yves Corthals, the Chevrolet of Nicola Larini and the SEAT of Jordi Gene.
Schnitzer pairing Jorg Muller and Augusto Farfus ran second and third in the first half of the race, although Porteiro's teammate Alex Zanardi passed the Brazilian to take third on lap seven. Despite slipping to fourth, Farfus now leads the championship.
Larini claimed fifth place, leading home a tight group including the SEATs of Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini and the second Chevy of Alain Menu. Menu's eighth place earns him pole for the reverse top eight grid second race.
Massimiliano Pedala, a late call-up to replace the injured Roberto Colciago, won the independent class in his SEAT Italia Leon in tenth overall and came close to taking ninth overall after pressuring the N.Technology Alfa Romeo 156 of James Thompson for much of the race.
Corthals recovered to finish as second best independent after a close battle with Pedala in the early stages, although he ultimately slipped to 12th behind the SEAT of Michel Jourdain.
Classified:
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Felix Porteiro BMW 26:51.609
2. Jorg Muller BMW + 0.259
3. Alessandro Zanardi BMW + 3.285
4. Augusto Farfus BMW + 4.284
5. Nicola Larini Chevrolet + 14.147
6. Yvan Muller SEAT + 14.605
7. Gabriele Tarquini SEAT + 14.798
8. Alain Menu Chevrolet + 17.570
9. James Thompson Alfa Romeo + 19.394
10. Massimiliano Pedala SEAT + 19.626
11. Michel Jourdain SEAT + 21.394
12. Pierre-Yves Corthals SEAT + 22.808
13. Tiago Monteiro SEAT + 24.447
14. Stefano D'Aste BMW + 24.766
15. Jordi Gene SEAT + 26.836
16. Emmet O'Brien SEAT + 36.837
17. Maurizio Ceresoli SEAT + 38.648
18. Luca Rangoni BMW + 47.345
19. Olivier Tielemans Alfa Romeo + 50.488
20. Robert Huff Chevrolet + 51.405
21. Miguel Freitas Alfa Romeo + 51.582
22. Philip Geipel Toyota + 51.719
23. Davide Roda BMW +1:12.422
Not classified:
Driver Make Laps
Andy Priaulx BMW 0
Tom Coronel SEAT 0
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