Brno: Post-race quotes

Robert HUFF Chevrolet, 8th in Race 1, 1st in Race 2
"Last night the thought of being on the podium was pretty unrealistic because I started Race 1 from 24th. But I worked my way up to 8th and had pole. I made my best start of the season but I was aware that Andy (Priaulx) was behind me so I pushed and created a gap over the first few laps. With about 3 laps to go I made a little mistake at turn 10 and Andy was on my bumper but just not quite close enough to overtake. I didn't think I had won until I crossed the finish line on the last lap. I think this weekend shows we have made some good developments on the car over the past 3 months and it has obviously paid off because we are quite a bit quicker now as well as being consistent over the race distance. After Mexico the team re-built my car in a week. The only thing that remained from the original was the steering wheel. This win is for them."

Jörg MÜLLER BMW Team Germany, 1st in Race 1, 4th in Race 2
"I managed to pick up some valuable points this weekend but Andy was in very good shape here despite the weight so I didn't catch him up too much. We need to work hard on our car to get on the pace when carrying weight. I got a great start in Race 1 but I think Alex (Zanardi) got an even better one because he was tight on my bumper. The track is very wide in Brno so I was a little bit scared about turn 3 because everyone was getting a slipstream and it was a big mess. I was happy to get through it without making a mistake and getting overtaken. It is difficult to overtake the front wheel drive cars coming into corners so I was unable to overtake Yvan (Muller) for 3rd in Race 2. In the same race me and Alain (Menu) were side by side, we touched wheels and he went off. I was lucky I continued near the front because my steering was like a banana!"

Andy PRIAULX BMW Team UK, 5th in Race 1, 2nd in Race 2
"This was a good weekend for me; better than expected. We struggled in the first two sessions to find balance but after qualifying we found a solution and the warm up was great. Then it was a question of remaining clean and trying to finish both races because as I have proved, winning races is not necessarily the way to win the championship. The incident between Gabriele (Tarquini) and I was unfortunate and I feel sorry for him. It was one of those situations where everybody bunched up which caused Gabriele to run very slow and wide. I had the momentum to run up the inside and I don't think he expected me to be quite so fast and he went to take the corner and I was there. I'm not going to take anything away from Rob's (Huff) victory in Race 2; he and Chevrolet have done a great job. If he had made a mistake I would have tried to win."

Alessandro ZANARDI BMW Team Italy-Spain, 2nd in Race 1, DNF in Race 2
"I was happy to be 2nd in Race 1 because I tried everything I could. On the first lap I was under the impression that I would be able to challenge (Jörg) through the distance of the race. However, my tyres deteriorated and Jörg was having the same problem but he either drove better than me or he had the edge. I was making small mistakes and every time I did he got a few metres further ahead so in the end I waved the white flag and settled for 2nd. The Race 2 incident between Yvan (Muller) and I is a question of opinion and something for the stewards to decide. I am only going to say that it looked as though it was a case of `since you have a bumper you better use it'."

Yvan MULLER SEAT Sport France, 3rd in Race 1, 3rd in Race 2
"As for my incident with Alex (Zanardi), for once I agree with him, it is up to the stewards now. I was pleased with 4th place but I had to defend against Jörg (Müller) and at the end of the straight I was surprised there was space on the right side to overtake Alex. I have to say that anyone in my place would have done the same thing. In terms of the championship, anything can happen. I had some bad results in the last two rounds so I had to be good here and score points. It is possible to be at Macau with 5, 6 or 7 drivers able to win the championship."

Tom CORONEL GR Asia, 6th in Race 1, 23rd in Race 2
"The first race went well and the car performed very well for me. I was just thinking about my points and of course I wanted to be in the top eight. It was quite funny because Menu made a mistake on purpose so he could get a front row start so I just took 6th position, why not? In the second race I could feel the performance of the engine going down then I saw an alarm on my dashboard. I spoke to my team manager who said `You are racing, do not stop' but in the end the car made the decision for me."

Stefano D'ASTE Proteam Motorsport, 13th in Race 1, 11th in Race 2
"The weekend started badly for us because we broke two gearboxes. We worked hard however and solved the problems. On the first lap the car didn't feel good but it improved and I was able to overtake people. In the second race I lost some time fighting with Terting and Sharp and as a result we lost contact with the leading cars. In the last laps I prayed and spoke to my car for unity and the car heard me!"

-credit: fia