Priaulx secures landmark win
Date published : 01 Aug 2010 - 18:01:28
BMW's Andy Priaulx came from fourth on the grid to claim his team's 50th World Touring Car Championship victory in race two at Brno.
The Briton finished two seconds ahead of fellow BMW driver Colin Turkington and Chevrolet's Alain Menu.
Championship leader Yvan Muller, who crashed out in race one, completed his miserable day with a 12th-place finish, while defending champion Gabriele Tarquini, second in the standings, retired with an injector problem when in fourth on the penultimate lap.
Priaulx got off to a flyer as both he and Turkington leapt past front-row starters Michel Nykjaer and Darryl O'Young, who had a dreadful start from pole. The Guernseyman went ahead of Turkington on lap two and never looked back.
Nykjaer ended in the gravel on lap four while O'Young finished in seventh, claiming the Rookie Challenge and Independents' class victories.
Rob Huff and Augusto Farfus battled it out for fourth after Tarquini's retirement before the British race one winner made a brilliant move to take the chequered flag ahead of Farfus.
Priaulx is now just 16 points off Muller in the standings - and 11 behind Tarquini - with four rounds remaining as he bids for a fourth title.
Earlier, in race one, Huff secured his first WTCC victory of the season as he held the lead from start to finish, edging out Tarquini by 0.796 seconds. Huff never looked like conceding the advantage as he held off the Seat driver at the start while an accident wiped out several of his rivals on the first lap.
Priaulx touched the back of Tom Coronel's Seat causing Kristian Poulsen, Fredy Barth and Jordi Gene to also make contact. The safety car was brought out and Coronel and Gene were forced to retire while the others continued with damaged cars.
After the restart another incident saw the elimination of Muller as he was caught up in a tangle between Turkington and Norbert Michelisz. Menu and Farfus went on to finish third and fourth respectively, while Priaulx was over 10 seconds further back in fifth.
