ROUNDS 9 & 10 - BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC
RACE 1 REPORT
 
ZANARDI WINS FROM PORTEIRO
The BMW cars played with their opposition in the first race at Brno. Taking four of the top five positions the German manufacturer dominated, with only Alain Menu''s Chevrolet in third to upset the party. Alessandro Zanardi took his first win from pole position, but it wasn''t as easy as that.
At the start Félix Porteiro came up from third to take the lead into the first corner. Tiago Monteiro clashed with Gabriele Tarquini, which caused him to fall back down the grid. Chevrolet''s Robert Huff also lost places as the race began to settle. James Thompson on the other hand had a good start moving up to sixth to fight with Huff on the first lap and soon managed to overtake him. During the rest of the race Huff lost further positions to Yvan Muller, Augusto Farfus and later Jörg Müller. Another Brit to struggle i n the race was Andy Priaulx who, unlike the other BMW cars, seemed to lack pace and ended up battling with the independent drivers in the closing stages.
Zanardi and Porteiro began the race from the front and remained there throughout, ahead of Menu. However, mid way through Porteiro was struggling with understeer and handed the lead to his team-mate who had more speed in his car. The top three drivers edged out a seven second lead over the rest of the field by the chequered flag. Farfus and Jörg Müller who made their way through the field from eighth and fifteenth to finish fourth and fifth demonstrated the potential of the BMW cars.
Yvan Muller who was eighth in race 1 will start from pole, with Thompson alongside him after finishing seventh; while Gabriele Tarquini saved a sixth place that enabled him to stretch his championship lead to 11 points.
The Independents'' class was fiercely fought. Pierre-Yves Corthals led them through the first lap but was overtaken by Franz Engstler and Sergio Hernández, who went on to fight for the win. Hernández eventually crossed the line ahead, but only just as he had to weave across the line to keep the German behind him. Stefano D''Aste crashed into the barriers on the final lap.
 
ROUNDS 9 & 10 - BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC
RACE 2 REPORT
 
TARQUINI AND SEAT HALT BMW DOMINATION
Gabriele Tarqunini held off a charging Alessandro Zanardi to salvage a valuable victory for SEAT Sport from the weekend in Brno, and extend his lead in the championship to 16 points ahead of Yvan Muller.
It was a breathtaking race. Once the start had shaken out, Yvan Muller held onto his lead from Tarquini in second and James Thompson in third. Chevrolet''s Robert Huff had a good start up from ninth to fifth, as did BMW Italy-Spain''s Félix Porteiro who ended the first lap in fourth.
Tarquini overtook Muller early in the race, as he appeared to struggle for pace, and then attempted to build up a healthy lead, which eventually saved his race. There was a fierce fight for other point positions as Zanardi, Jörg Müller and Huff clashed on the track, the latter losing his rea r bumper; Alain Menu managed to take advantage and slip through. Zanardi moved up to fifth and Müller slipped down the field ending up finishing eighth. There were further notable overtaking moves by Menu on Muller, Zanardi on Thompson and Augusto Farfus overtaking Rickard Rydell and Porteiro on his way to fourth position.
Zanardi chased down Tarquini, diving up the inside on the final lap, but having to settle for second position. Huff overtook Yvan Muller for the final podium place, but had to fend off Farfus in the final corners. Porteiro recovered from several clashes to fifth position, having overtaken Yvan Muller on the final lap, who had to settle for sixth. Menu lost his third position when he ran wide at a corner and slipped down to seventh. Jörg Müller scrambled back up to eighth followed by Andy Priaulx who, again, finished out of the points. James Thompson ended up in tenth, having begun the race beside the pole sitter. He lacked the pace of the other cars and after being past by several cars, he clashed with Porteiro and fell back down the grid as cars shot past him.
In the Independents'' class Stefano D''Aste was leading the race until Sergio Hernández and Franz Engstler went either side on the last lap; Engstler and D''Aste clashed and went out, enabling Hernández to gain his second race win of the day from Corthals and Romanov.
The championship will resume for rounds 11 and 12 at Estoril, Portugal, on July 13th.