Race 1 - Priaulx leads an unexpected BMW 1-2

Andy Priaulx snatched victory in the final corner of the last lap in this afternoon’s first race in Monza ahead of his team-mate Augusto Farfus and Chevrolet’s Rob Huff, who crawled across the line on three wheels.

Gabriele Tarquini had been leading from Huff until the final corners of the race however, coming through the Ascari chicane for the final time, Tarquini had a front-left puncture allowing Huff to briefly take the lead. His joy was short-lived as his front-left tyres also exploded coming into the Parabolica.

In the drama, the BMW Team RBM duo was able to capitalise, driving around the outside on the exit of the final corner to take a 1-2 for the German Manufacturer. Huff held third while Tarquini dropped to seventh overall.

Huff had a great run down to the first chicane from the rolling start at the beginning of the 9-lap sprint race, getting ahead of poleman Farfus before the first chicane. From seventh on the grid, Tarquini braved the outside making it through into second before hunting down Huff for the lead.

Further down the field, Independent racers Kristian Poulsen and Darryl O’Young made contact and crashed into the barrier on exit of the chicane. The pair both limped back to the pits with damage.

As lap two began, Tarquini was all over the back of the Chevrolet and took the lead through the first chicane. The leading duo then began pulling out a gap on the rest of the field, with the BMW 320si of Farfus pushing Priaulx for third.

The order coming into the final lap was Tarquini from Huff, Priaulx, Farfus, Nykjær, Muller, Coronel, Barth, Monteiro and Bennani.

In the last lap drama, Muller capitalised to jump to fourth, ahead of Tom Coronel in fifth. Top rookie Fredy Barth moved up to sixth overall in his SEAT León TDI as Michel Nykjær dropped to eighth, his car also suffering from a front-left puncture. Monteiro and Bennani rounded out the top ten with the Moroccan driver winning the Independents’ Trophy for the second time this season.

Hungarian Norbert Michelisz had a difficult race, after running in fifth early on, he was hit by Menu’s Chevrolet causing him to cut the chicane. The bonnet of the Chevrolet flew open giving Menu a tricky drive back to the pits where the team taped it down so he could rejoin, although now down in 19th. Michelisz was then called in for a drive through penalty for cutting the chicane before being called back by the stewards to remove the rear bodywork that was hanging off his car following the incident.

Newcomer Leonel Pernía went off at the Parabolica on the penultimate lap and got stranded onto the gravel.

The result means that Nykjær will be on pole for today’s second race, with Tarquini alongside on the front row.