Bennani’s fourth is BMW’s best as WTCC runs in Austria

Proteam Racing’s Mehdi Bennani finished fourth in the first World Touring Car Championship sprint at the Salzburgring in Austria, where a trio of Chevrolets headed by Michael Nykjaer swept the podium. Bennani was running third until Yvan Muller passed him on the penultimate lap of the race.

BMW racers Fredy Barth and Tom Coronel finished sixth and tenth. Coronel’s tenth was BMW’s best in the second race, won by Chevrolet’s James Nash; Coronel is eighth in drivers’ points going into the next WTCC event on Moscow Raceway in Russia on June 9.—Brian S. Morgan