N.Technology Alfa Romeo’s James Thompson put in a stunning performance in today’s first FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) race at Oschersleben, Germany, finishing in third place.
The Alfa Romeo 156 driver was under immense pressure throughout the 16-lap race from BMW’s Jörg Müller in fourth, but the Britain kept a cool head and fought off the attacks of the home crowd’s favourite.
Both N.Technology drivers had a lucky escape at the start of the race, when several cars were involved in a collision on the start/finish line and again coming out of turn two.
Thompson’s team-mate, Olivier Tielemans, navigated the carnage to register his best-ever WTCC result, finishing ninth despite starting from 17th on the grid.
James Thompson, car number 15
“I think it was probably the worst place to be, in between the SEATs in front and the BMWs behind, but to be fair we were probably quicker than them. We didn’t test here before and we just made progress throughout the weekend. In Valencia, when we won twice, we were a little lighter, but now we are exactly the same weight as Garbiele Tarquini and our performance has been great.
“The Alfa Romeo will give us some great chances to win more races towards the end of the Championship.”
Olivier Tielemans, car number 16
“I had a good view of the first lap: I saw a spinning Chevrolet and Peter Terting’s car up in the air. I don’t think Tom Coronel could avoid him. I went into first gear, very slow and lost one place to Jordi Gené.
“I just kept on racing and pushing after the restart, then I had Monteiro in front of me. I saw that Colciago hit Monteiro a bit and the wreckage was touching his rear wheel. I knew he had lost grip so I thought I’ll pass him on the straight. I took his slip stream and the first corner is very good for out-braking. He came back but I consolidated.”
FIA WTCC Oschersleben race one – Provisional result
1. Yvan Muller (FRA), SEAT Sport, 1:37.665
2. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA), SEAT Sport, 1:37.772
3. James Thompson (GBR), N.Technology, 1:37.525
4. Jörg Müller (GER), BMW Team Germany, 1:37.499
5. Andy Priaulx (GBR), BMW Team UK, 1:37.499
6. Jordi Gené (ESP), SEAT Sport, 1:37.576
7. Augusto Farfus (BRA), BMW Team Germany, 1:37.593
8. Roberto Colciago (ITA), SEAT Sport Italia, 1:37.262
9. Olivier Tielemans (NED), N.Technology, 1:37.604
Eurosport’s WTCC coverage will continue for race two on Eurosport at 15.30 (CET) on Sunday 26 August 2007.
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