Jörg Müller (DE) finished second in the 18th round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The BMW Team Germany driver crossed the finish line in Imola (IT) behind Honda’s James Thompson (GB) and relegated Robert Huff (Chevrolet, GB) to third. BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB) scored two points by coming seventh, while Müller’s team-mate, Augusto Farfus (BR), took the chequered flag in eighth. In the first race of the day, Farfus and Müller were the only BMW drivers to collect points by finishing seventh and eighth, with SEAT’s Yvan Muller (FR) securing victory.

BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi (IT) missed out on championship points in both races. Following finishing tenth in race one, Zanardi’s team-mate, Félix Porteiro (ES), was involved in a heavy accident at the start of race two. While accelerating, he crashed into the Seat of Gabriele Tarquini (GB) who hadn’t moved when the red lights went off. Fortunately both drivers walked away from this incident. With 55 points to his tally, Priaulx remains the best-placed BMW driver in the overall classification. However, the gap to the championship leader Muller increased to 25 points. In the manufacturers’ standings, BMW still holds second with 207 points.

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
“I must say I’m really happy with finishing second as I knew it would be nearly impossible to keep James Thompson behind me for long. Therefore I tried to avoid any mistakes and to secure another podium result. It was no big surprise for us to see the competition in such an impressive shape here.”

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
“When I look back at the weekend, and especially race one, I feel this was a missed opportunity and I am taking the blame. I could have braked half a second later into the first corner and could have been more aggressive.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
“Over the course of the weekend Jörg and I were always the quickest BMW drivers. In the first race we used this to achieve the best possible result. However, at the start of race two I just lost too many positions.”

Félix Porteiro (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“This was quite a heavy crash. My neck is still painful, but overall I’m okay. I had a good start and tried to overtake Yvan Muller on the right-hand side. Then I switched to the left – and suddenly there was this car. I didn’t have a chance to avoid it.”

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“My poor grid position had a major impact on the outcome of my two races. Today we were faster in the corners than the opposition, but slower on the straights. That’s why it was extremely hard to overtake. In the first race I tried to pass Tiago Monteiro and unfortunately made a mistake.”