Imola: Post-race quotes

Dirk MÜLLER, BMW Team Deutschland 4th in Race 1 and 1st in Race 2
"I did not expect such good results today considering my qualifying position of 9th. My team made a change to my car between the races and it certainly paid off. In both races the front row were slow off the line so Andy (Priaulx) and I responded and got a great start. In the first race I was trying to chase Andy and it was a good fight between him and me. In the second race it was very difficult to overtake Zanardi because he was defending almost perfectly. It is good to still be the Championship leader and I am looking forward to the next rounds."

Fabrizio GIOVANARDI, Alfa Romeo Racing Team 1st in Race 1 and 3rd in Race 2
"In the first race I managed to re-claim the lead by overtaking García and Priaulx so I got the result I was hoping for and I am extremely happy about that. In the second race I was not as lucky as I was in the first. I started behind everybody and unfortunately there was a lot of fighting in front of me so I lost some time. My tyres were getting worse so I could not push too hard. I was lucky in the last lap as Zanardi and Farfus went off."

Andy PRIAULX, BMW Team UK 3rd in Race 1 and 2nd in Race 2
"I don't think I was strong enough to win today to be honest. If had got a perfect start and a good lead with my new tyres in the second race then maybe I could have had the win. On the last lap I went wide because I made my last push and the grip was just not there on my tyres. Even if had not gone wide, I don't think I would have taken the win. There has been a turn around in my competitiveness this weekend from qualifying to the race results. We are improving and things need to keep moving in that direction and hopefully the championship title will come to me at the end."

Antonio GARCÍA, BMW Team Italy-Spain 2nd in Race 1 and 9th in Race 2
"The first race was as I expected. I knew I needed a good start and I achieved it. I saw Andy behind me so I pushed to try and make a gap but within two laps Giovanardi had overtaken me. I was waiting for him to make a mistake but it didn't happen. In the second race I had a really great start. I caught Thompson after a few laps but Giovanardi was also there and when we came to Rivazza he was a little too late on braking and hit me on the front wheels. From that point my steering was 90º out so it was incredibly tough to drive."

Alessandro ZANARDI, BMW Team Italy-Spain 8th in Race 1 and 6th in Race 2
"I have learned this weekend that my car is very competitive. I achieved good results in my own right, not through the misfortunes of others. I lost track of Dirk and Andy in the middle of the second race because I made a mistake but towards the end I was catching them again. At this point I had a flat spot on my tyres and my car was gone so I concentrated on keeping Farfus behind me. However, four turns to the end my chance for a podium place was taken away. I am certain that it was not intentional on his part but is it unfortunate that I missed out due to someone else's mistake. In a way it is a positive result but at the same time it feels like a defeat."

Rickard RYDELL, SEAT Sport 9th in Race 1 ans 4th in Race 2
"We made a change to the set-up for Race 2 and it helped a lot; in fact, I wish Race 2 had been Race 1! This time I got a very good start and I passed quite a few people during the race before Farfus made a silly move on Zanardi right at the end, which meant I could finish fourth. I'm happy, especially after such a hot weekend, and I'm also pleased that the success ballast system seems to be working."

Nicola LARINI, Chevrolet - 13th in Race 1 and 11th in Race 2
"Better would have been difficult. It were two good races without any problems, which is nice. I'm very happy with the 11th position in Race 2, our best result so far in the season."

Hans HOTFIEL, Ford Hotfiel Sport Team Principal
"We are understanding the car more and more, and it shows in the improvements we make every time we take to the track after some set-up changes. We will now continue our extensive development work, and I'm sure we'll make further progress in the next couple of weeks."

LATEST NEWS

BALZAN EXCLUDED FROM RACE 2

Alessandro Balzan has been excluded from Round 8 of the FIA WTCC that took place at Imola today. Post-race scrutineering discovered his car was underweight. The decision means that he loses the 10 points he gained by winning the independent category and drops from a would-have-been third, to sixth position in the title bid. The result means that runner-up Stefano D'Aste of Proteam Motorsport claims the maximum points and he now sits in ninth place. Marc Hennerici still holds the lead of the Independent's competition despite having a disappointing weekend. He has 54 points, 19 ahead of second placed Carl Rosenblad while Tom Coronel, Valle Mäkelä and Salvatore Tavano all have 27 points a piece.

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