BMW driver Dirk Müller keeps his championship lead in Mexico.

After two difficult races in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in Mexico, BMW has maintained its lead in the Drivers' Championship. Dirk Müller (GER) failed to gain any points in the series' successful overseas debut, but nevertheless travels back to Europe as the championship leader. In both championships the competition is more exciting than ever after the Mexican rounds of the WTCC. BMW Team Italy-Spain's Antonio Garcia (ESP) was the most successful BMW driver at the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed and improved to fourth place in the championship after adding 12 points to his tally.

In the first race of the day, Fabrizio Giovanardi (Alfa Romeo) took victory ahead of his fellow Alfa driver, Gabriele Tarquini, and SEAT driver Rickard Rydell. Garcia finished fifth. Peter Terting (SEAT) won the second race at the 3.032-kilometre circuit, trailed by Garcia and Roberto Colciago (Honda). Garcia was happy about his third podium finish of the season.

"I'm not sure if I could have passed Peter Terting," the 24-year-old said. "I knew that I needed a perfect start to make it onto the podium. That worked out fine. Peter pushed hard, and I also had to keep an eye on Fabrizio Giovanardi in my rear mirror. I'm really happy with this result, as this track is not ideal for our rear-driven BMWs. The team did a great job today."

Garcia's fellow BMW drivers had a less fortunate race weekend. Jörg Müller (GER) did not take part in the races following an accident in Friday's practice. His team-mate, Dirk Müller, missed out on the points in both races, carrying 60 kilos of handicap weight. The same went for Andy Priaulx (GBR) of BMW Team UK, who was also running with the maximum amount of ballast on board his car. Garcia's team-mate, Alessandro Zanardi, was involved in collisions in both races, thus scoring only a 13th-placed finish in race one.

With 47 points, Dirk Müller still leads the Drivers' Championship, ahead of Giovanardi with 44 and Priaulx with 41 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, BMW and Alfa Romeo now share the top position with 129 points each, followed by SEAT (98).

Directly after the races in Mexico, the teams started to load their equipment into containers again. Via truck and ship, the WTCC circus starts its 10,000-kilometre trip home to Europe. The series will be continued with two rounds at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on 30th July.

Race 1

Weather: cloudy, 17 degrees Celsius

Start: Garcia passes Robert Huff (Chevrolet) and is now running on sixth position. Dirk Müller is 13th, trailed by Priaulx, whose BMW 320i suffered some damage after an encounter with another car at the start. Zanardi makes the biggest improvement: from 19th to 16th place.

Lap 2: Dirk Müller overtakes Nicola Larini (Chevrolet). Jordi Gené (SEAT) stops after hitting the wall. All BMW drivers gain one position.

Lap 3: Garcias loses one place to Colciago and is back on sixth position. Priaulx cannot perform as he would have liked to do after the incident at the start and drops back to 15th place.

Lap 5: Dirk Müller, Priaulx and Zanardi benefit from technical problems suffered by Alain Menu (Chevrolet). They all gain another place. A little later, Dirk Müller also passes Tom Coronel (SEAT) and is now running in ninth position.

Lap 7: Zanardi and Priaulx collide. Priaulx is heading to the pits for the necessary repair works and rejoins at the tail of the field. Zanardi continues in 17th position.

Lap 9: Colciago retires with technical problems. Garcia thus improves to fifth and Dirk Müller to eighth place. Zanardi also gains one position.

Lap 13: Dirk Müller leaves the racing line while entering the start-finish straight and hits the wall. He heads back into the pits cautiously, where the mechanics immediately start working on his BMW 320i.

Finish: Garcia finishes fifth and Zanardi takes the chequered flag in 13th position. Dirk Müller is classified as 18th. He will start the second race from the back of the grid.

Race 2

Weather: cloudy, 19 degrees Celsius

Start: Garcia performs a perfect start and leapfrogs from fourth to second place. Dirk Müller improves from 22nd to 16th position, Priaulx is running in 15th position. Zanardi is unlucky: following a collision with Tarquini, he has to retire.

Lap 3: Dirk Müller and Priaulx make their way up the ranks.

Lap 6: Garcia successfully fends off an attack by James Thompson (Alfa Romeo) and holds onto his second position.

Lap 9: Priaulx has moved up into ninth position, after overtaking Jason Plato (SEAT) and Augusto Farfus jr. (Alfa Romeo).

Lap 11: While trying to overtake Farfus, Dirk Müller goes off and has problems to keep control of his car. He drops back to the end of the field.

Finish: Garcia takes the chequered flag in second place, 0.693 seconds behind Terting. Priaulx finishes ninth and Dirk Müller comes home in 17th place.

Results

BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport No. 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) did not start No. 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) Grid: 15th - Races: 18th and 17th

BMW Team UK - RBM No. 1 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) Grid: 13th - Races: DNF and 9th

BMW Team Italy-Spain - ROAL MotorsportNo. 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) Grid: 19th - Races: 13th and DNFNo. 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) Grid: 7th - Races: 7th and 2nd

BMW private teams

Crawford Racing - No. 28 - Carl Rosenblad (SWE) Races: 16th and 16th

Proteam Motorsport - No. 30 - Stefano d'Aste (ITA) Races: 12th and 12th - No. 31 - Giuseppe Ciro (ITA) Races: 14th and 10th

Wiechers-Sport - No. 32 - Marc Hennerici (GER) Races: 17th and 15th

Results Race 1: 1st Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 26:06.219 minutes, 2nd Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) +2.172 seconds, 3rd Rickard Rydell (SWE/SEAT) +11.525, 4th James Thompson (GBR, Alfa Romeo) +13.298, 5th Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) +13.772, 6th Robert Huff (GBR/Chevrolet) +15.658, 7th Peter Terting (GER/SEAT) +18.554, 8th Tom Coronel (NLD/SEAT) +21.880, ?13th Alessandro Zanardi (ITA/BMW 320i) +27.351, ?18th Dirk Müller (GER, BMW 320i) +5 laps - DNF: Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) - not started: Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i)

Results Race 2: 1st Peter Terting (GER/SEAT) 26:10.825 minutes, 2nd Antonio Garcia (ESP/BMW 320i) +0.693 seconds, 3rd Roberto Colciago (ITA/Honda) +7.461, 4th Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) +7.578, 5th James Thompson (GBR, Alfa Romeo) +11.621, 6th Tom Coronel (NLD/SEAT) +13.038, 7th Rickard Rydell (SWE/SEAT) +13.630, 8th Nicola Larini (ITA/Chevrolet) +17.091, 9th Andy Priaulx (GBR/BMW 320i) +17.543, ?17th Dirk Müller (GER, BMW 320i) +30,788 - DNF: Alessandro Zanardi (ITA/BMW 320i) - not started: Jörg Müller (DEU/BMW 320i)

Drivers' standings after 10 out of 20 races: 1st Dirk Müller 47 points, 2nd Fabrizio Giovanardi 44, 3rd Andy Priaulx 41, 4th Antonio Garcia 39, 5th Gabriele Tarquini 38, 6th Rickard Rydell 32, 7th James Thompson 31, 8th Augusto Farfus jr. 29, 9th Jörg Müller 27, 10th Peter Terting 17, 11th Jordi Gené 12, 12th Jason Plato 10, 13th Roberto Colciago 9, 14th Alessandro Zanardi 6, 15th Tom Coronel 4, 16th Robert Huff 3, 17th Nicola Larini 1

Manufacturers' standings after 10 out of 20 races: 1st BMW 129 points, 2nd Alfa Romeo 129, 3rd SEAT 98, 4th Chevrolet 32, 5th Ford 2

Next race: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (30th July 2005)-