Alex Zanardi claimed his second career victory in the World Touring Car Championship with an example of text book driving at Istanbul as those behind him, not least most of the title contenders, embarked on a chaotic afternoon of racing.
Having led each practice session prior to the first race of the weekend and only missing out on pole position because of an impromptu rain shower in qualifying, Zanardi was arguably the big favourite to translate his front row starting position into his first victory of the season.
And the Italian did not disappoint, getting the break at the start from pole sitter Rickard Rydell and coasting home to a win that proved as equally emotional as his triumph at the Oschersleben last year, the first victory for the former
F1 driver since he lost his legs in a Champ Car accident in 2001.
However, while Zanardi led Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini for a relatively uneventful top three, further back several drivers set about making the race arguably the most thrilling of the season. Indeed, with Andy Priaulx, James Thompson, Jorg Muller, Augusto Farfus and Yvan Muller failing to score, the championship standings have once again closed up considerably.
With cool but dry conditions greeting the drivers as they lined up on the grid for the second race to be held at the state-of-the-art Turkish venue, it did not take long for drivers to take advantage of the wide first corner as they jostled for position, not least Zanardi who used his
BMW to slingshot off the line to pass Rydell, the Swede doing his utmost to keep his rival behind him but only just failing his mission.
A frantic first lap duly followed as cars darted out of slipstreams all over the Istanbul Park circuit, even if the order at lap one read similar to that of the starting positions, Zanardi leading Rydell, Tarquini, Yvan Muller, Duncan Huisman, Dirk Muller, Nicola Larini and Jordi Gene.
