The ROAL Motorsport-run BMW Team Italy-Spain outfit enjoyed one of its best ever weekends in the World Touring Car Championship after Alex Zanardi and Sergio Hernandez took a win apiece at Brno.

Former single-seater ace Zanardi, who shone at the Czech venue last season, made the most of the multi-car accident at the start to lie second to Gabriele Tarquini behind the Safety Car.

When the race resumed, Zanardi made light work of getting ahead of the SEAT man and then led for the remainder of the race to secure his first win of the year. Unfortunately for the Italian, his hopes of doubling up in race two ended when contact from Tarquini saw him go off into the barriers.

“It's always the same in racing: Sometimes the odds are against you, sometimes they play into your hands,” he said. “Today I benefited from the incident at the start. I managed to escape the pile-up without a scratch and quickly got past Gabriele Tarquini. Then it was all about controlling the race from the front. My car was simply too good to let anyone take this victory away from me. Jörg [Muller] was a potential threat, but he came from too far behind to launch an attack on me.”

Hernandez took fifth in race one but quickly moved to the front in race two after battling past the Independent BMW of Felix Porteiro.

From there, he held off the challenge of defending champion Yvan Muller to pick up his maiden overall win.

“I'm over the moon after claiming my maiden win for BMW. It's a perfect day for me and the whole team,” the Spaniard said. “This success means a lot to me as it proves that we are working in the right direction. I successfully kept the reigning champion, Yvan Muller, behind me, and withstood the pressure. I'm also happy that I could help BMW to reduce the gap in the Manufacturers' Championship. Alessandro Zanardi showing me the pit board with 'P1' when I crossed the line, makes me proud.”