Priaulx wins chaotic race

The first caution was only a brief pause to clear up various cars left stranded after the early jostling, but the second was rather more time-consuming.

Emmet O'Brien ran wide at the final corner and thumped the barriers, demolishing both his BMW and the tyre wall. Luckily he was able to get out of the car unaided.

By the time the mess had been cleared up, there was only time for a three lap shoot-out, and even this could not be completed without further incident, as Alain Menu performed a virtual carbon copy of O'Brien's shunt.

Ignoring all the chaos, Priaulx led from lights to flag to claim his fourth win of the year and retake the points lead.

The superb three-abreast racing in his wake in the opening laps allowed Priaulx to make an early escape.

Gianni Morbidelli lost second to James Thompson at the start, but repassed the SEAT just before the first caution.

Thompson then lost another place to the charging Alex Zanardi on lap nine. Zanardi had come from 25th to 10th in race one, and calmly picked through the frenetic top ten pack in race two.

He put Morbidelli under huge pressure in the closing laps, but had to be content with a still impressive third.

Thompson, Gabriele Tarquini and Peter Terting completed the top six for SEAT, as their teammates Jordi Gene, Rickard Rydell and Yvan Muller all came off second best in various incidents, as did race one podium finisher Augusto Farfus.

Rob Huff made his way through the chaos to take seventh ahead of Salvatore Tavano in the third Alfa.

Tom Coronel beat Ryan Sharp to the Independents' win, with both cars bearing some significant battle scars come the end of the race.

Result

Pos  Driver              Make                      Time
 1.  Andy Priaulx        BMW 320si            25:42.910
 2.  Gianni Morbidelli   Alfa Romeo 156       25:43.704   + 0.794
 3.  Alessandro Zanardi  BMW 320si            25:43.932   + 1.022
 4.  James Thompson      SEAT Leon            25:45.186   + 2.276
 5.  Gabriele Tarquini   SEAT Leon            25:45.951   + 3.041
 6.  Peter Terting       SEAT Leon            25:46.164   + 3.254
 7.  Jorg Muller         BMW 320si            25:46.904   + 3.994
 8.  Robert Huff         Chevrolet Lacetti    25:47.672   + 4.762
 9.  Salvatore Tavano    Alfa Romeo 156       25:48.495   + 5.585
10.  Alain Menu          Chevrolet Lacetti    25:49.218   + 6.308
11.  Tom Coronel         SEAT Leon            25:49.883   + 6.973
12.  Ryan Sharp          Honda Accord Euro R  25:50.364   + 7.454
13.  Yvan Muller         SEAT Leon            25:51.144   + 8.234
14.  Jordi Gene          SEAT Leon            25:51.933   + 9.023
15.  Dirk Muller         BMW 320si            25:54.513  + 11.603
16.  Duncan Huisman      BMW 320si            25:54.821  + 11.911
17.  Diego Romanini      BMW 320i             25:57.561  + 14.651
18.  Lucas Molo          Alfa Romeo 156       24:28.764   + 1 LAP
     Not Classified
     Emmet O'Brien       BMW 320i             12:46.496     D.N.F.
     Augusto Farfus      Alfa Romeo 156       11:16.189     D.N.F.
     Luca Rangoni        BMW 320si            7:30.215      D.N.F.
     Rickard Rydell      SEAT Leon            4:29.592      D.N.F.
     Stefano D'Aste      BMW 320i             1:41.845      D.N.F.