09.10.2004 Two wins for Gabriele Tarquini, two thirds for James Thompson AND Independent's Cup wins for Luca Rangoni AND Salvatore Tavano rounded out the season in style for Alfa Romeo: FIA ETCC race report from Dubai

After two really hot races – for air temperature and incidents – a red flag and a collection of dents on his car’s bodywork, Andy Priaulx claimed the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship title in Dubai.

The BMW Team Great Britain’s man finished second to Alfa Romeo’s Gabriele Tarquini in both the 19th and 20th rounds of the season, and managed to fill the 12-point gap he had from his fellow BMW driver Dirk Müller before the last meeting.

Andy and Dirk finished the season on equal points – 111 – and the Englishman won the title for having won more races during the year (5 to 3).

Today in Dubai, both races resulted in the same podium: the outgoing champion Tarquini scored a double victory, from Priaulx and his own team-mate James Thompson. Priaulx’s rivals in the title fight – BMW Team Deutschland’s Dirk and Jörg Müller – had a nightmare weekend. After struggling in yesterday’s qualifying, they tried to move up in the races, but they were caught in a number of fights and involved in different clashes.

The second race was red-flagged on the first lap, due to a pile-up that eliminated García’s BMW, Rydell’s SEAT and the Peugeots of Sardelli and Magnussen; the latter coming to rest upside down. None of the drivers were injured.

In the absence of Tom Coronel, who had already claimed the Independents Trophy title after Oschersleben, Oregon Team’s driver Luca Rangoni and Salvatore Tavano won the two races for the privateer's Trophy, while AutoDelta managed to claim the Team's Trophy title.

Race 1

Priaulx sprinted from the pole to the lead, chased by Tarquini, Rangoni, Thompson, J. Müller and D. Müller. Tavano lost control at the first corner causing a pile-up that involved Gené, Giovanardi, Farfus and García. Both Tavano and Gené retired. During the first lap Thompson overtook Rangoni for third, and Rydell overtook J. Müller for sixth.

On lap two, Tarquini stole the lead from Priaulx, while the Müllers were swapping paints with Rydell and Diefenbacher. Rydell ran over a debris and pitted with a puncture. On lap three, D. Müller overtook Rangoni for fourth, while J. Müller dropped down from sixth to tenth. Thompson was closely chasing Priaulx, while Farfus and Zanardi were closing in on Diefenbacher.

Lap four saw D. Müller get past by Diefenbacher and Farfus, but he then spun after a collision with Rangoni and pitted to replace the rear left wheel. Giovanardi and Balzan collided while fighting with J. Müller, and both retired. On lap five, Farfus overtook Diefenbacher for fourth.

The next lap, Zanardi lost sixth position to J. Müller, but resisted Rangoni’s assaults. Harrison moved up to ninth, ahead of García. On lap seven, Magnussen hit Bartyan, who spun and retired. One lap later, García overtook Harrison for ninth, while Priaulx and Thompson were still having a close fight for second position, trying to outbrake each other before every corner.

On lap nine, D. Müller retired as a consequence of the collision with Rangoni. Diefenbacher was closely threatening Farfus’s fourth position.

Tarquini scored a comfortable win, while Priaulx managed to keep second place from Thompson. Farfus, Diefenbacher, D. Müller, Zanardi and Rangoni filled the other point positions, with the latter winning the Independent's Trophy from Harrison and Sardelli. After the race only D. Müller and Priaulx were still in the title fight, with the former leading by four points.

Race 2

Rangoni had pole on the reversed grid, but alongside him Zanardi took a better start and jumped into the lead, chased by J. Müller and Priaulx. During the opening lap the first three clashed and spun; immediately afterwards the race was red flagged when Rydell, Sardelli and Magnussen were involved in a pile-up to avoid a spinning García. They all escaped unscathed.

At the restart, Zanardi took to he front, but on the first lap Priaulx overtook J. Müller, before grabbing the lead. Behind the leaders several clashes involved Farfus, Thompson, Diefenbacher, Rangoni and J. Müller. D. Müller, who had started from the back of the grid due to a neutralization of the parc fermé after Race 1, was elbowing his way through the field.

On the second lap Priaulx created a gap, while Zanardi was chased by Thompson, Farfus and Tarquini. Giovanardi and J. Müller were fighting door-to-door for the fifth place, Diefenbacher was closely chasing D. Müller.

One lap later and Zanardi could not resist the pressure from the Alfa Romeo men. He was overtaken by Tarquini and clashed with Farfus, dropping down from second to ninth. Diefenbacher was now chasing the Alfas. On lap four, Diefenbacher overtook Farfus for fourth, while J. Müller ran wide fighting with Zanardi. On lap five, Tarquini closed the gap from the leader and finally overtook Priaulx.

Lap six saw Farfus tring to resist D. Müller and Zanardi, but he was waved a black-and-orange flag because the right front door of his car, damaged in a collision, kept on opening in the left-handed corners.

The next lap Zanardi overtook J. Müller for seventh, and closed in on D. Müller. On lap eight, Giovanardi stole third position from Thompson, but then retired with electrical problems. On lap nine, J. Müller regained seventh position, but he lost it again on the final lap.

Like in the first race, Tarquini claimed victory, his sixth in the season, from Priaulx and Thompson. D. Müller finished fourth: enough to equal Priaulx on points, but not to become champion. Zanardi, Tavano (winner of the Independents Trophy) and Bartyan also finished in the points.