Pau 2007: Farfus back on a roll with victory.

Sunday, 3rd June 2007

Augusto Farfus bounced back from his spectacular qualifying accident in the best possible way by triumphing in the second race World Touring Car race of the day around the streets of Pau.

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The other SEATs of Monteiro and Yvan Muller in fifth and seventh were each having to contend with a racy looking Chevrolet too, Rob Huff hassling Monteiro and race one winner Alain Menu bothering Muller.

With little space to pass though, the inevitable eventually happened on lap eleven when Porteiro slid his BMW down the inside of Gene at the hairpin, an unsurprisingly robust move on the tightest section of an already narrow circuit. With Gene on the back foot, Monteiro and Huff blasted through too.

Even better for Monteiro though, fourth became third almost straight away when Porteiro discovered his ambitious move was not going to pay off as he snaked his way around the next bend, his left-rear wheel badly damaged.

Seeing what a potential move could result in, the remaining few laps remained stagnant, with Michel Jourdain initially taking the last points paying position in eighth before being forced to retire. Instead, James Thompson would eventually inherit the place, albeit not before almost being punted into retirement by Alex Zanardi. Not that Huff and Menu did not try, the Chevrolet duo clearly eager to pass their SEAT rivals but not quite ever being in a position to try a realistic move.

Farfus though ran out the winner, the Brazilian still having to keep a keen Priaulx behind him in the final laps as the reigning champion tried his luck at pressuring his team-mate into a mistake. Nonetheless, second ensures a good points haul for the weekend and with Jorg Muller failing to score in either race, he now takes the sole lead of the championship.

Monteiro held on for another third place, his twelve points launching him up the championship order too, despite having missed the first meeting at Curitiba. Huff secured his second fourth place finish of the day on a strong weekend for Chevrolet, while Gene secured fifth place.

Muller kept Menu at bay to the chequered flag, although it was Thompson who would cross the line seventh when the Swiss driver appeared to slow on the final lap. He nonetheless grabbed the final point for eighth.