Brno: N.Technology race one, two notes

MORE POINTS FOR N.TECHNOLOGY

N.Technology Alfa Romeo concluded a tough weekend with a solid fifth place finish in this afternoon's tenth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), courtesy of British driver James Thompson.

The 33-year-old overtook three cars into sixth place on his first lap, with fifth position following soon after thanks to a stop-go penalty for second-place Alessandro Zanardi.

Pushing hard to improve his position, the Briton chased Gabriele Tarquini for fourth place during the remainder of the race but wasn't able to catch the Italian.

After a difficult start forced Thompson's team-mate Olivier Tielemans to the back of the grid, the rookie worked his way through the field with some confident overtaking moves to finish 17th.

James Thompson, car number 15

"I really went for it at the start of the race but realised that the BMW pace is in a different league this weekend and had to settle for fifth because Tarquini kept enough of a gap in front of me in the SEAT. Going from 14th at the start of the weekend to 5th this afternoon is good going though! We keep adding points to our tally; we got more points this weekend than in Pau and that's the most important thing."

Olivier Tielemans, car number 16

"I pushed really hard for the whole race after a not very good start. I spent the race chasing whoever was in front to overtake but had to protect my position quite a bit too!"

-credit: nt