Yokohama ADVAN demonstrated its tyres’ versatility this weekend, helping BMW dominate its home round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Germany. The rear-wheel drive 320si BMW won both races at Oschersleben, first in the hands of reigning champion Andy Priaulx, then with home-crowd favourite Jörg Müller.
The result – a complete turnaround for BMW, who had been at the mercy of the front- wheel drive SEATs at the British round two weeks ago – demonstrated that Yokohama is equally effective on both front and rear-wheel drive models. Priaulx led Sunday's afternoon’s thrilling seventh round of the series from start to finish. Dirk Müller (Team BMW Germany) moved up from sixth to fourth place on the first lap of that race, then delighted his home crowd with a breath-taking three-way tussle between himself, Rickard Rydell (SEAT Leon) and James Thompson (SEAT Leon), to take second-place by lap eight. SEAT completed the top five places, with Rydell taking the final step on the podium and Gabriele Tarquini and Thompson finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.
In the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy, the race-within-a-race for private entrants, GR Asia’s Tom Coronel (Alfa Romeo) scored victory (taking tenth place overall) with a solid drive in his SEAT Leon. Race two (round eight of 20 in the series) saw a return to form for BMW’s Jörg Müller after he’d failed to score points at Brands Hatch a fortnight ago. The German snatched the lead from turn one and guarded his advantage until the chequered flag, despite constant pressure from Augusto Farfus in his Alfa Romeo. Dirk Müller finished close behind in third.
Coronel once again took the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy, battling throughout the race with the manufacturer-entered BMW of Alex Zanardi.
Andy Priaulx, BMW Team UK: “The tyres were good. I would have liked to find more grip this weekend but it was definitely more a question of set-up than tyres.”
Jörg Müller, BMW Team Germany: “Tyres were quick and consistent!” Augusto Farfus, N-Technology: “I was very happy with my tyres, they were constant throughout the race and helped me fight for second position.” Kazuyoshi Sekiguchi, Yokohama: “Such a high performance from so many drivers is a pleasure to see. The weather stayed dry and the Yokohama ADVANs delivered good grip throughout. All in all, these were two very good races.”
Drivers’ Championship: 1 Andy Priaulx BMW 33 points 2 Yvan Mulller SEAT 33 points 3 Dirk Mü ller BMW 32 points 4 James Thompson SEAT 32 points 5 Rickard Rydell SEAT 31 points 6 Gabriele Tarquini SEAT 31 points Manufacturers’ Championship: 1 SEAT 80 points 2 BMW 69 points 3 Chevrolet 48 points 4 Alfa Romeo 37 points Yokohama Independents’ Trophy: 1 Tom Coronel 60 points 2 Stefan D’Aste 36 points 3 Ryan Sharp 35 points 4 Luca Rangoni 34 points 5 Alessandro Balzan 25 points 6 Maurizio Ceresoli 23 points
Yokohama Teams’ Trophy: 1 GR Asia 55 points 2 Proteam Motorsport 46 points 3 JAS Motorsport 34 points 4 DB Motorsport 25 points 5 Wiechers-Sport 18 points 6 SEAT Sport Italia 16 points
