BMW finishes behind Chevrolet and SEAT in the WTCC season opener

[Roundel]

Chevrolet and SEAT vanquished BMW as the World Touring Car Championship season began at the Curitiba circuit in Brazil.

BMW’s factory 320si team this year is RBM, with cars for Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus. Chevrolet is running three factory team Cruze LTs, while last year’s champion SEAT does not have a factory team in the series, but is supporting privateers who are running the Leon 2.0 TDI. There are six privateer BMWs in the series’ 21-car field.

Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx opened BMW's WTCC season in Brazil.

Race one started behind the pace car on a wet and rainy circuit. The pace car pulled in after two laps, and the rain stopped soon after the track went green. Priaulx and Farfus, who had qualified sixth and seventh, finished fifth and sixth in a race dominated by Chevrolet. It was an all bowtie podium, with Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller winning ahead of his teammates Rob Huff and Alain Menu. Defending series champion Gabriele Tarquini finished fourth in his SEAT.

Race two, run in dry conditions, went to Tarquini, who finished ahead of his teammate Jordi Gene. Priaulx retired after contact with Tarquini in the first turn, and Farfus, running in front of his hometown crowd, finished sixth, falling back from his third starting position after contact with another car.

Team RBM principal Bart Mampaey said, “We had a decent first race in very tricky conditions. Andy went for a slightly different set-up to Augusto. While Augusto was quicker in the beginning, Andy was on the pace towards the end. So we finished fifth and sixth, which gave us some points and promising grid positions for the second race. With the track drying out and considering the pace we had shown in the dry earlier this weekend, our expectations were high. But both of our cars were touched by another competitor at the start. While Andy was forced to retire, Augusto was able to prove that we had good pace. But it was just not possible for him to gain more ground. This has been a difficult start to the season. We will look into this and keep on working.”

WTCC competition is scheduled to resume at the Puebla circuit in Mexico on April 11, but on March 8 autosport.com is reporting that the event has been canceled because "local authorities informed series bosses last week that the safety of visitors could not be guaranteed due to unrest in the region." Stay tuned for more details..—Brian S. Morgan, motorsports editor, bmwcca.org