22nd September 2002:  FIA European Touring Car Championship, Enna-Pergusa ( Italy ), Rounds 15 & 16

The first lap saw Giovanardi dispense with Dirk Muller to move up into fourth, while Larini quickly repassed the Hondas to end the lap in sixth place. Lap two saw De Simone pushed down the order, Jorg Muller getting past, followed by Giovanardi who was now up to third.

Reigning Swedish Touring Car Champion Colciago, after starting at the back of the grid, was slicing his way through the field, up into seventh spot at the end of lap two. Lap 3 saw Jorg Muller and Giovanardi fighting hard for second, both drivers given a black and white warning flag for missing a chicane. At the end of the lap Jorg Muller left his braking too late, hitting Ekblom and in the resulting confusion coming out in the lead. The next lap saw Giovanardi past the Swede leaving him and Jorg Muller in a clear fight for the lead.

Further back on lap 5 De Simone, Larini and Colciago were locked in a battle for fifth, which became fourth when Dirk Muller spun out and retired. Larini punted De Simone off and the BMW driver was out instantly.

Lap 6 saw Giovanardi outbreak Jorg Muller and into a lead he would not reliquish, Jorg Muller, trying to resist, climbed across the kerbs, letting Ekblom back into second. The next lap saw Jorg Muller overtake Ekblom at the Schumacher chicane, while Larini's damaged car was being harried by Colciago in the fourth Nordauto Alfa.

A lap later Colciago was past Larini and almost immediately took Ekblom to climb to third. On lap 9 Jorg Muller ran wide at the Schumacher chicane allowing Colciago into secoond, while on the next and penultimate lap Ekblom did exactly the same manoever, relinquishing fourth place to Larini.

Fabrizio Giovanardi cruised home to his tenth consecutive race win at Enna, undedeated at the Sicilian track since 1997, and his eighth ETC win of the season. Two maximum scores have lifted him to 21 points ahead of team mate Nicola Larini, and with two races remaining he is closing in on another title, which after this race is virtually destined to go to an Alfa driver.

Fabrizio Giovanardi  “After everyone expected me to win, I really had to win today! I am really happy as I have not won a race during the last three meetings. In today’s first race, I pushed a lot and the car was fantastic. I really enjoyed the fight I had with Jörg Müller in Race Two; I had to outbrake him in the first chicane and I was lucky I managed to handle my car because I was on the dirty side of the track. I worked a lot to win these two races and now I have a good advantage in the Championship. However, I have to concentrate on the last two meetings as my team-mate is always very fast. I need two points to be on the safe side”. 

Nicola Larini  “In the second race, De Simone hit me and pushed me out. My car was almost destroyed. On the following lap, he hit me again and I lost a big opportunity to score more points, improving my position compared to Fabrizio and also to Jörg, who is still so close to me. I still think I might win the Championship. I’m a bit worried about the next meeting in Donington Park, as I haven’t raced at the circuit for a long time. It will be a great but difficult challenge”. 

Roberto Colciago  “In the first race I had a misunderstanding with Jörg Müller and I flat-spotted my tyres. Therefore, I had to pit and lost contact with the leaders. In the second race I was patient, watching the strange fight between Nicola and Fabrizio De Simone. I then overtook Nicola and also the BMWs as my car was faster. I was here to take points in order to help Alfa Romeo to secure the title and that is exactly what I did!” 

Dirk Muller made a blinding start from the lights, squeezing past the two works Nordauto Alfas and into the lead. However, harried by Fabrizio Giovanardi, he could not hold onto it and at the ultra fast chicane the championship leader outbraked him and took a lead he would not reliquish until the chequered flag came out. Behind them Jorg Muller and Roberto Colciago clashed, forcing the Alfa stand-in driver to pit at the end of the lap to change flat spotted tyres.

Giovanardi, Dirk Muller and Larini, in close formation pulled away from the field, with the BMW driver in second place fending off Larini until lap 9. Finally in some real bumper-to-bumper racing the Alfa squeezed past at the fast chicane on lap 9 and despite some wild manoevers by Muller on the two final laps, Larini was able to bring home an Alfa 1-2. 

The works Alfa Romeo Nordauto team drafted in recently crowned Swedish Touring Car Champion Roberto Colciago to drive a fourth 156 GTA in the closing rounds to assist championship chasing Nicola Larini and Fabrizio Giovanardi in their title chase. Straight on the pace he set the fastest time with a lap of 1:48.929 in the opening free practice, the only driver to scrape under the 1m49s barrier. Bigazzi driver Eric Cayrolle built on his experience of winning the 24 hours of Sicily this summer, claiming 6th fastest time. Local Sicilian driver Domenico Guagliardo was the fastest privateer newcomer, taking over Paolo Ruberti's seat in the AGS Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 Gta, setting 13th fastest time. The second free practice saw the Alfa drivers complete a clean sweep of the top positions, Giovanardi leading out Larini and Colciago.

qualifying

Fabrizio Giovanardi claimed his fifth pole position of the season, back on top after failing to make the top spot in the last three rounds, his 1:47.522 over half a second faster than team mate Nicola Larini who lined up on the outside of row one.

Giovanardi, winner here for the last three years, was straight onto provisional pole with a 1:49.4 lap ahead of his team mates on his opening run, lowering his best to a 1:48.2 on his second, before becoming to only driver to break the 1:48 barrier with a 1:47.522 ten minutes from the end of qualifying.

Behind Larini in third came Dirk Muller, fastest of the BMW drivers who snatched third spot from Colciago on his final lap, pushing the Alfa new boy to fourth. No one else managed to break the 1:49 barrier and five BMWs lined up behind Colciago before Eric Cayrolle in the Bigazzi Alfa 156 GTA rounded off the top ten. After a promising start local driver Guagliardo in the AGS Alfa could only manage 17th place, while the Volvo drivers, complaining of too long gears and not high enough top end revs were lead out by James Hanson in 12th. Rickard Rydell in the lead Volvo S60 failed to set a time after crashing on his opening lap and lined up in 20th place.