Zolder, 20th June 2010. BMW Team RBM’s Andy Priaulx (GB) continued his run of victories in the World Touring Championship. In the eighth round of the season held in Zolder (BE), the triple world champion claimed his third win of 2010. He was joined on the podium by Chevrolet’s Robert Huff (GB) and Tiago Monteiro (PT, SEAT) who came second and third respectively. In the first race of the day, Priaulx secured pole position for the second round by finishing eighth, which he was able to convert into another victory thanks to a flawless drive. His team-mate, Augusto Farfus (BR), took the chequered flag in tenth and eighth, also adding to his points’ tally at the “Circuit Zolder”.
This was Priaulx’s 15th career win in the World Touring Car Championship. He now is on par with Farfus on top of the series’ all-time winners’ list. In the Drivers’ Championship, Priaulx has moved up to second after eight rounds, with 103 points under his belt. Farfus is in ninth with 52 points. Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller (FR, 125 points) has retained his lead.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen:“As expected, this has been a difficult weekend for us. We knew this circuit would suit our car better than the previous three tracks, but the competition is very strong. If qualifying doesn’t run perfectly, then it’s really difficult to gain ground in the races. Nevertheless Andy managed to take the crucial eighth place in race one. In round two he delivered a great performance, kept his rivals behind and celebrated this victory. The races weren’t so successful for Augusto. Of course we would have also liked him to make it into the top-eight, but he got stuck in traffic and had to start the second race from tenth on the grid. From this position he couldn’t do much more than bring the car home in eighth.”
Bart Mampaey (Team Principal):“Again there are two sides to this weekend for us: Andy’s victory in front of our Belgian home crowd is a true highlight in the history of RBM. You could really feel how much the fans were hoping for this win by our team. In addition, I’m happy we could reward BMW Belux for its huge support over the past years. The Zolder races were disappointing for Augusto. Unfortunately it didn’t work out with both of our drivers finishing race one in the top eight. In race two it was virtually impossible for him to pass Gabriele Tarquini.”
Andy Priaulx (Car Number 11):
Race 1: 8th, 1:40.138 min – Race 2: 1st, 1:40.181 min
“This home win is fantastic for BMW Team RBM. We experienced great support from the Belgian fans throughout the whole weekend. The fact I managed to improve to eighth in race one thanks to two overtaking manoeuvres, was certainly the key to this success. We are not as fast as our competitors in qualifying at the moment, but our race pace is excellent. This win was very important to keep us in a strong position in the championship.”
Augusto Farfus (Car Number 10):
Race 1: 10th, 1:40.509 min – Race 2: 8th, 1:40.435 min
“Andy’s win is great for our team. Everyone worked really hard to make it happen. Personally I had hoped for a better result. After our unlucky qualifying session I had to make up lost ground in the races, but overtaking is really difficult at this circuit. Additionally our package is not good enough to pass the other cars easily. Now I hope to get some better results in the coming weekends.”