PR: Jörg Müller celebrates maiden win at Brands Hatch.

Jörg Müller celebrates maiden win of the season in Brands Hatch.

Brands Hatch, 27th July 2008. Jörg Müller (DE) claimed victory in the 13th round of the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the “Brands Hatch Circuit”, the BMW Team Germany driver won ahead of SEAT’s Yvan Muller (FR). Andy Priaulx (GB) crossed the line in third for BMW Team UK, scoring his fifth podium finish of the year. The BMW Team Italy-Spain drivers, Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Félix Porteiro (ES), rounded off the strong result for BMW with fourth and sixth respectively. Müller’s team-mate Augusto Farfus (BR), however, retired following an accident on the first lap.

In the second race of the day, Porteiro and Zanardi represented BMW on the podium after finishing second and third behind Chevrolet’s Alain Menu (CH). Müller was fourth, while Farfus made up a total of 18 places and finished sixth. Priaulx was forced to retire with a puncture. Nevertheless, the reigning champion moved up to third in the Drivers’ Championship. He is the best-placed BMW driver on 49 points. In the manufacturers’ classification, BMW gained some ground on SEAT and has 165 points to its tally.

Jörg Müller (BMW Team Germany):
“Normally I don’t have to wait until the second half of the season to score my maiden win of the year. Obviously I’m very happy now that I have made it. The team gave me a superb car. Now I will do my best to repeat this performance at the next race weekend in Oschersleben, in front of my home crowd.”

Andy Priaulx (BMW Team UK):
“Third in race one is a good result. My car was perfect today. However, it was virtually impossible to pass Yvan Muller. I was set to give the British fans something to cheer about in the second race, too. But there is not much you can do with a puncture.”

Félix Porteiro (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“I never reckoned I would be in the position to score another podium result here. At the beginning of the weekend we were nowhere. But from one session to the next we found improvements. In the early stages of race two Alain Menu was just too quick, but over the course of the race I closed in on him. This proves we have a good pace.”

Alessandro Zanardi (BMW Team Italy-Spain):
“This has been a fantastic weekend for us. We have changed our car a lot since Friday – and obviously we absolutely hit the mark with the set-up for the two races. In some situations we were a bit lucky. But in racing you just have to work hard enough and the luck plays into your hands.”

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Germany):
“Once again I was only able to show how good our car really is in the second race. I was pushed out of the first race and was forced to fight my way back up the field in the second race. It is frustrating we just cannot be rewarded for all our work.”