Thompson wins race one

The N.Technology Alfa Romeo 156 driver retained the lead at the rolling start despite a determined challenge from the SEAT Leon of fellow front-row starter Yvan Muller.

Thompson then opened up a useful cushion out of the first corner after the lead Chevrolet Lacetti of Nicola Larini slipped past Muller into second place. However, Thompson was forced to go through a restart after the safety car was deployed to clear up after a first corner pile-up.

SEAT teammates Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro appeared to make contact on entry to the first corner, flicking Tarquini into the Team Italy-Spain BMW of former GP2 racer Felix Porteiro. In the ensuing pile-up, Rob Huff's Chevy was also punted into the gravel, while Porteiro collected team-mate Alex Zanardi.

All five were out on the spot, along with the leading independent Roberto Colciago's SEAT Italia-run Leon, while championship leader Augusto Farfus dropped down to 17th after being tipped into a spin during the incident.

Safely clear of the carnage, come the restart on lap five Thompson was able to pull away unchallenged.

"I was intent on pushing as hard as I possibly could," said Thompson. "I had a good gap on the first lap before the safety car, and at the restart I tried to put in two or three qualifying-type laps in. Obviously that's a bit risky, but it worked."

Larini had to work hard to keep Yvan Muller and the second SEAT of Jordi Gene behind him in the early stages, although as the race went on the former DTM champion established a small cushion to continue his superb run of form with second place.

Yvan Muller and Gene held on to third and fourth, although they were tracked throughout by the RBM-run BMW 320si of defending champion Andy Priaulx.

Ex-Champ Car racer Michel Jourdain Jr, carrying no success ballast, claimed his first WTCC points with a career-best sixth place ahead of the independent-class winning Proteam Motorsport BMW 320si of Luca Rangoni. The Italian had to fight his way past both Wiechers-Sport's Stefano d'Aste and teammate Sergio Hernandez to earn his fourth consecutive indie win.

Jorg Muller claimed reverse grid pole for race two with a comfortable run to eighth place from his lowly starting spot on the seventh row, while his Schnitzer Motorsport BMW teammate Farfus will be forced to start from the rear of the field in race two after he was forced to retire in the closing stages.

The Brazilian had climbed to 11th place, but when Hernandez got out of shape exiting Turn 12 Farfus's attempt to capitalise on the ensuing loss of momentum by d'Aste and Coronel backfired when all three made contact and slid into the gravel trap.

Pos  Driver            Make         Time
 1.  James Thompson    Alfa Romeo   29:37.113
 2.  Nicola Larini     Chevrolet      + 2.839
 3.  Yvan Muller       SEAT           + 4.237
 4.  Jordi Gene        SEAT           + 4.810
 5.  Andy Priaulx      BMW            + 5.492
 6.  M.Jourdain Jr.    SEAT           + 8.883
 7.  Luca Rangoni      BMW            + 9.900
 8.  Jorg Muller       BMW           + 11.773
 9.  Alain Menu        Chevrolet     + 16.216
10.  Sergio Hernandez  BMW           + 19.210
11.  M.Pedala          SEAT          + 23.179
12.  Stefano D'Aste    BMW           + 25.991
13.  P-Y.Corthals      SEAT          + 30.272
14.  O.Tielemans       Alfa Romeo    + 31.539
15.  M.Ceresoli        SEAT          + 32.818
16.  Miguel Freitas    Alfa Romeo    + 39.471
17.  Emmet O'Brien     SEAT          + 40.386
18.  Maria de Villota  Chevrolet     + 42.180
19.  Lev Fridman       BMW         + 1:14.582
20.  V.Shapovalov      BMW         + 1:19.279
21.  Tom Coronel       SEAT           + 1 lap
22.  Augusto Farfus    BMW           + 3 laps

Not classified/retirements:

     Robert Huff       Chevrolet
     Tiago Monteiro    SEAT
     Felix Porteiro    BMW
     Roberto Colciago  SEAT
     G.Tarquini        SEAT
     A.Zanardi         BMW