Priaulx quickly recovered though and eventually found a way past Rangoni on lap four, his
BMW links helping to massage his passage through. Any hopes though that Rangoni would be able to keep Thompson at bay though quickly dashed on lap six when the Alfa found his way past, pulling Muller through with him in the process.
Having made the most of having Rangoni behind to stay comfortable over the first few laps, the arrival of Priaulx onto his back bumper was starting to prompt small errors by Muller, culminating in a lurid slide on lap seven that had his team-mate all over him for half a lap, the duo defending and attacking with entertaining fervour.
What this meant though was that Thompson was able to catch the feuding BMWs and quickly wasted no time in settling behind Priaulx, pulling out down the home straight and brushing past into second. It would take just one more lap for Thompson to produce that same move on Muller to take the lead, much to the delight of the Valencia crowd.
The positions in the lower echelons of the points began to attract attention now, with the trio of Chevrolets – including Rob Huff, who was flying back up the field having started at the back of the grid -, now tailing Muller, Rangoni and Gene.
Gene made the first move to get by Rangoni, in doing so delaying the two and allowing Menu and Huff into the midst of the battle. With the four of them side-by-side at various points on the circuit as they jostled, the inevitable finally occurred into the final corner when Gene got untidy under the brakes, bumping into the side of Huff and pushing him onto the outside kerb. With the rarely used kerb proving dusty, Huff could not control his Lacetti and was forced to take a trip across the gravel, tumbling down the order. As a consolation, Huff would end the race with the fastest lap of the day.
Thompson was long gone though to repeat his feat from the first race on a weekend that evoked memories of previous successes for Alfa Romeo, at a time when double wins were not so surprising.
