PR: Priaulx scores sole point for BMW in difficult Mexican WTCC races.

Puebla, 6th April 2008. In two difficult FIA World Touring Car Championship rounds in Puebla (MX), the BMW national team drivers had to make do with scoring just one point. It was BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB), who managed to walk away from Mexico with a point in the bag by finishing eighth in the afternoon race at the “Autódromo Miguel E. Abed“. SEAT’s Jordi Gené (ES) and Tiago Monteiro (PT) secured the race wins at the 3.240-kilometre track.

Thus Mexico remains an unloved territory for BMW. In the six WTCC rounds held to date in Puebla, the manufacturer has only managed to celebrate one podium finish, back in 2005. In the Drivers’ Championship, Priaulx remains the best-placed BMW driver, having 14 points under his belt. The reigning champion ranks fifth, 12 points behind new championship leader Rickard Rydell (SE/SEAT). In the Manufacturers’ Championship, BMW holds second place behind SEAT, with a points’ tally of 40.

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
“I’m glad I tried out ice racing a couple of weeks ago as the track was as slippery as ever today. Off the racing line you were simply left without a chance. The point I scored in race two was definitely the best ever, if you take the SEAT dominance into consideration.”

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
“After a spin, which was caused by a collision at the start of race one, I had to start from zero again, and I was forced to fight with blunt weapons: The steering was damaged, and it was far from easy to gain some ground again. At the end of the day, I finished 14th. However, from this position I couldn’t challenge for the top positions in race two. Puebla still doesn’t work well for us.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
“Despite my relatively good grid position for race one, today’s rounds were as tough for us as we had expected them to be. The beginning of the end was lap one in the first race, when I was hit hard by a SEAT driver. This cost me the chance to make it into the top eight. A lot of work waits for us between now and the next event.”

Félix Porteiro (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“In comparison to my fellow BMW drivers I’m quite happy with my performance. In qualifying I was the second-fastest BMW. However, the gap to the top is obviously far too big. I’m happy that these two races lie behind us and I can hardly wait to go to Valencia for my home races.”

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“I’m very disappointed about the first race. At the start I tried to keep out of all the trouble – but then another driver decided to drag me directly into it by hitting me. The second race went quite smoothly, although I would have wished for a little bit more performance. Sometimes it goes well for you, sometimes against you. But I think that recently I have been unlucky too often.”