Augusto Farfus cruised to his third victory of the season in round 17 of the World Touring Car Championship at Valencia, but the hero of the race was undoubtedly independent driver Luca Rangoni, who claimed a superb second in his Proteam
BMW.
In an eventful race that saw the top three in the championship, Andy Priaulx, Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell, involved in heavy crashes, Farfus' win sees him rise from sixth to third in the standings after a controlled drive from pole position.
Rangoni was a surprise second for his first points in the WTCC, the Italian equaling the best ever result for an independent driver in the process, that, interestingly, being of Proteam team-mate Stefano D'Aste at Spa last season.
Nicola Larini claimed an impressive third after battling his way through the field, the top three crossing the line just two seconds apart and six seconds up on an exceptionally close mid-field.
Having seen the closest qualifying session in history and a rather mixed up grid, the stage was set for an equally tight race. Indeed, tight was certainly the word you could use off the start line as Farfus dived across to block fellow front row sitter Jordi Gene in a rather robust manoeuvre, albeit one that didn't pay off when the Spaniard squeezed past and pulled ahead with two wheels on the grass.
Further back though there was further contact, although for Priaulx and Rob Huff it was somewhat more terminal, the BMW having received a nudge from title rival Tarquini into the first corner, the Brit spinning over the grass on the inside of turn one and slamming violently backwards into the hapless Chevrolet.
With the rear of Priaulx's car on fire and in a dangerous position, the safety car was deployed leaving Gene to lead round Farfus, while Alain Menu made a good start from fourth to run third, one place up on Luca Rangoni, who had a superb opening lap move into fourth place. Salvatore Tavano, Nicolas Larini, Jorg Muller and Tom Coronel kept close company in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth.
